An
employee has been successful in the Employment Relations Authority after
raising a personal grievance claim for unjustified dismissal.
The
employee was dismissed from his employment at a meeting with his employers after
he had a dispute with a co-worker.
The
employee was told that things were not working out and that he should look for
another job. The employers thought things had gone too far between the two men
and wanted to employ someone new.
The
ERA found that no formal mutual agreement was reached between the employee and
the employers to end the employment relationship.
Accordingly,
the employers needed to follow a proper and fair process when dismissing the
employee. The ERA found that the employers could not rely on the employee’s
poor performance as justification for the dismissal as they had not raised
their concerns with the employee about his quality of work or informed him that
any failure to improve may result in his termination.
The ERA ordered the
employer to pay the employee over $5,000 in lost wages plus $7,000 in
compensation for humiliation, loss of dignity and injury to feelings.
Alan Knowsley
Employment Lawyer
Wellington
No comments:
Post a Comment