| Restrictions | OK |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Employment Relations Authority - Wellington |
| Reference No | WA 196/05 |
| Hearing date | 6 Sep 2005 - 20 Oct 2005 (5 days) |
| Determination date | 22 December 2005 |
| Member | P R Stapp |
| Representation | R Hooker, L Douglas ; A Martin, J Basile |
| Location | Wellington |
| Parties | A v The Attorney-General in respect of The Chief Executive Officer of The Child Youth & Family Services |
| Summary | UNJUSTIFIED DISADVANTAGE - Stress - Applicant became ill while on study leave - Medical certificates provided to respondent - Stress not initially brought to respondent's attention as reason for illness - 10 day delay before respondent responded to letter from doctor advising to remove applicant from critical front line work and have hours reduced - Applicant ceased working and was medically retired - Social work inherently stressful - Applicant's diagnosed depression was of unknown cause - Applicant had number of other personal factors relevant to causation of illness - Was supervision given to applicant - Were performance issues - Not satisfied applicant established claim that breaches by respondent as alleged materially caused illness at work - Workload reasonable - Applicant probably not suited to employment as front line social worker - Respondent did not breach obligation to act as good employer and provide safe and healthy workplace as alleged - Applicant never properly asked about stress and safety and no monitoring took place but breach did not give rise to personal grievance - Did not enquire and respond to medical certificate - Failure to respond in reasonable time and pick up on advice of doctor's letter/medical certificate sent following month - Doctor had given advice that applicant should be removed from front line duties and have reduced hours - Inaction had impact on applicant - Fair and reasonable employer would be expected to pick up that applicant not suited to front line social work - Personal grievance - Respondent not liable for future lost earnings in form of damages - Respondent had no responsibility for claim for retraining - Also no liability for claim for medical costs - Applicant's name suppressed - Names of third parties referred to during course of investigation but not named in determination also protected permanently by order suppressing names from publication - Social worker |
| Result | Application granted ; Compensation for humiliation etc ($15,000) ; Costs reserved |
| Cases Cited | PBO Ltd (formerly Rush Security Ltd) v Da Cruz [2005] 1 ERNZ 808 |
| Number of Pages | 10 |
| PDF File Link: | wa 196_05.pdf [pdf 49 KB] |