An employee was working as a night chief
when her employer raised issues with her performance. The employer offered the
employee a new position as a raw cake maker which the employee accepted. Shortly
afterwards, the employer made the employee redundant.
The Employment Relations Authority
upheld the employee’s personal grievance claim for unjustified dismissal.
The ERA held that the employer failed to
act as a fair and reasonable employer could in all of the circumstances by
breaching his duty of good faith. The employer failed to provide the employee
with relevant information about the employee’s ongoing employment, and did not
provide the employee with an opportunity to comment on the information before
making the employee redundant.
The ERA noted that the employer had also
failed to explain why the employee and no other staff were being made redundant.
The ERA ordered the employer to pay the
employee over $7,000 for lost wages, and over $320 for wage arrears plus $4,000
compensation for humiliation, loss of dignity and injury to feelings.
Alan Knowsley
Employment Lawyer Wellington
No comments:
Post a Comment