Parliament must be free from bullying and this applies to everyone – including MPs, Ardern said.
Hamilton West MP Sharma, in a column in The New Zealand Herald yesterday, detailed alleged bullying and gaslighting involving party whips and the Parliamentary Service.
Ardern told reporters that Sharma's claims were disputed.
The backbench MP's concerns "didn't reflect a wider issue", she said.
Asked whether Sharma had broken any Labour rules by publicly claiming bullying, Ardern said there were expectations in relation to the privacy of others such as staff and that there were a number of issues at play as it related to employment matters.
The primary focus at this stage was resolving the staffing issues that had arisen in Sharma's office.
Asked whether Sharma was a bully, Ardern said she would not put a label on it.
Ardern confirmed she was aware at the end of last year that there were some "issues" and the next time it was raised with her was when his column was published by the Herald yesterday.
She noted the responsibility to protect staff and make sure MPs were the best employers they could be
She had not spoken to Sharma but had exchanged a number of messages.
Ardern said the extra scrutiny now on Sharma meant Labour would be supporting him, despite his allegations.
She would not go into the nature of the employment issues in the MP's office.
Ardern said Sharma had raised employment issues within his own offices and that he had sought a different solution through the whip and the member of the Prime Minister's office.
Ardern said she had "seen no evidence" of his allegations of bullying.
The employment issues needed to be dealt with appropriately and to maintain "some confidentiality".
She said starting out as an MP could be hard, along with managing staff. She said a "constructive approach" had been taken, supplying support to Sharma.
Ardern confirmed a hiring pause had been put in place to address the staffing issues in the backbencher's office. She was confident Parliamentary Service and the Labour whips had done their job.
Ardern's comments come as Labour confirmed today there have been ongoing issues with staff in Gaurav Sharma's office, after the party's backbencher claimed there was bullying at Parliament.
Labour's chief whip Duncan Webb said today that his office had become aware of "issues between Gaurav and some of his staff" a year ago.
"At all times the Whip's office has acted in good faith and sought to work constructively with Gaurav and the Parliamentary Service to ensure he has good support available to address issues between him and his staff.
The statement said it "seemed prudent" to recently pause hiring with the intention of providing further assistance before more staff were hired into Sharma's office.
"The Parliamentary Service and I met with Gaurav in good faith to progress these issues as recently as yesterday, he was fully represented at that meeting," Webb's statement read.
"We are mindful these are ongoing relationships, so we must respect individual's privacy, but we will continue to seek a resolution with Gaurav in the coming weeks."
It's understood the meeting between Webb, Sharma and Parliamentary Service took place before the MP's column was published.
