| Restrictions | OK |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Employment Relations Authority - Wellington |
| Reference No | WA 135/04 |
| Hearing date | 30 Sep 2004 |
| Determination date | 13 October 2004 |
| Member | D Asher |
| Representation | D McLeod ; R Towner |
| Location | Napier |
| Parties | Christensen v McCain Foods (NZ) Ltd |
| Summary | UNJUSTIFIED DISMISSAL - Whether entitled to redundancy compensation - Redundancy - Whether applicant offered alternative position on substantially same terms and conditions - Offered other manager roles but applicant declined to accept them though worked in one role on without prejudice basis - Letter required applicant to accept engineering manager's role or redundancy not payable - Applicant dismissed with one month's salary in lieu of notice - Applicant entitled to redundancy compensation - Able to properly decline offer on ground position not on substantially same terms and conditions - Respondent could not decline to pay compensation because applicant declined other manager position - Applicant unaware at that time redundancy compensation would not be paid if did not accept job - Company's late advice of its position of not paying redundancy compensation breached contractual undertaking to consult with applicant and use best endeavours to redeploy applicant - Unjustified dismissal - Remedies - Entitled to receive redundancy compensation as per employment agreement - Leave reserved if agreement could not be reached on amount - PENALTY - Penalty would not have served any useful purpose - Manager |
| Result | Application granted ; Redundancy compensation (Quantum to be determined by parties) ; Costs reserved |
| Statutes | ERA s124 |
| Cases Cited | Sky Network Television Ltd v Duncan [1998] 3 ERNZ 917 |
| Number of Pages | 14 |
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