The Employment Relations Authority has upheld a claim for
unjustified dismissal after an employee claimed that she was dismissed for
taking annual leave which had been agreed.
The employee had two periods of leave approved in advance
by her employer, one week before Christmas and one week in February. A couple of days before the Christmas leave
was due to commence the employer asked her not to take the leave due to the
workplace being very busy. She agreed to
cancel that leave, but on the basis that she could continue to take the leave
in February and would be able to take extra leave at Easter.
However, when the February leave came around the employer
again asked her not to take the leave due to the workplace being busy. She refused and said that she had already
made bookings for leave and took the leave.
The employer then responded by saying that she will not be able to take
leave at Easter. After a dispute about
the ability of the employer to cancel pre-approved leave the employer then gave
her notice of termination. The ERA held
that the termination was unjustified as she had no opportunity to respond to
the alleged poor performance which was given as the reason for her
dismissal. Instead the ERA found that
this was a direct result of the employee taking pre-approved leave and that
such action was unlawful.
The employee was awarded $12,500 compensation for hurt and
humiliation suffered.
Alan
Knowsley
Employment
Lawyer Wellington
No comments:
Post a Comment