| Restrictions | OK |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Employment Relations Authority - Wellington |
| Reference No | WA 155/05 |
| Hearing date | 23 Aug 2005 |
| Determination date | 26 September 2005 |
| Member | D Asher |
| Representation | J Unsworth ; G Pollak |
| Location | Wanganui |
| Parties | The New Zealand Meat Workers and Related Trades Union Inc v AFFCO New Zealand Ltd |
| Summary | DISPUTE - Interpretation of collective employment agreement - Applicant alleged respondent in breach of departmental agreement (DA") by its method of paying lamb cutting employees ("employees") for smoko breaks - Terms and conditions of respondent's meat processing plant employees typically set by combined effect of collective agreement and DAs - DAs were additional terms and conditions of employment - Condition of plant reopening after seasonal shut down was significant reduction of terms and conditions - Employees previously paid by piece rate arrangements and not eligible for paid smoko - Under new DA employees paid hourly rate and entitled to paid smoko - Daily pay determined by number of carcasses processed from which hourly rate payments per employee were deducted - Amount left over known as incentive pool and distributed amongst employees - Respondent currently took smoko payments from incentive pool - DA not recorded in writing - Applicant met burden of proving terms of contract it argued for - No written evidence of respondent putting to applicant proposal to pay for smoko differently to other employees at plant - Such a significant term would have featured in applicant's written record - Would be contrary to principles of good faith to permit respondent to benefit from failure to clearly communicate to employees scope and detail of significantly different new term and condition of employment - Respondent was to cease paying smokos from incentive pool and pay employees in same manner as other hourly employees - Respondent was to compensate employees for previous reduced payments - Leave reserved if agreement could not be reached on quantum of compensation" |
| Result | Question answered in favour of applicant ; Orders accordingly ; Costs reserved |
| Statutes | ERA s54;ERA s61;ERA s65 |
| Number of Pages | 8 |
| PDF File Link: | wa 155_05.pdf [pdf 35 KB] |