| Restrictions | OK |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Employment Relations Authority - Wellington |
| Reference No | WA 83/06 |
| Hearing date | 7 Mar 2006 - 20 Mar 2006 (2 days) |
| Determination date | 31 May 2006 |
| Member | G J Wood |
| Representation | J Bates ; A Scott-Howman |
| Location | Wellington |
| Parties | Hyde v Hospitality Services Ltd |
| Summary | UNJUSTIFIED DISMISSAL – RAISING PERSONAL GRIEVANCE - Constructive dismissal – Applicant in national training and development role – Respondent proposed hiring additional employee to link professional development training with formal unit standards qualifications – Applicant not consulted – Informed of proposal in brief meeting - Applicant raised concerns in email – New employee appointed – Applicant continued working without complaint until resigned to take up new employment – Respondent breached number of significant duties to applicant when developing unit standards proposal – Removal of all management responsibilities regarding design, development and implementation of training programmes constituted significant change to terms of employment – Change amounted to demotion – Breach sufficiently serious to make resignation reasonably foreseeable – However applicant’s email did not constitute raising of personal grievance – Concerns not raised again until after resignation – Delay in raising matters so long that applicant acquiesced in changes imposed on her – Change to position not sufficiently proximate to resignation to found claim for constructive dismissal – UNJUSTIFIED DISADVANTAGE – Consideration of power to find alternative grievance under Employment Relations Act 2000 s122 - Although demotion amounted to unjustified disadvantage, disadvantage grievance not raised within 90 days so no award possible – Length of service three years three months – National training and development manager |
| Result | Application dismissed ; Costs reserved |
| Statutes | ERA s3;ERA s101;ERA s122;ERA s143;Labour Relations Act 1987 |
| Cases Cited | Auckland Electric Power Board v Auckland Provincial District Local Authority Officers IUOW Inc [1994] 1 ERNZ 168 ; [1994] 2 NZLR 415;Auckland Regional Council v Sanson [1999] 2 ERNZ 597;Auckland Shop Employees IUOW v Woolworths (NZ) Ltd [1985] 2 NZLR 372;Brown v New Zealand Tourism Board [2000] 2 ERNZ 43;Fouad Kamel Abdalla v Chief Executive Officer of the Southern Institute of Technology unreported, Colgan J, 5 May 2006, CC 4/06;Reube-Donaldson v Sky Network Television Ltd (No 1) [2004] 2 ERNZ 83;Salmond Smith Biolab Ltd v NZ (with exceptions) Food Processing etc IUOW [1989] 2 NZILR 939 |
| Number of Pages | 11 |
| PDF File Link: | wa 83_06.pdf [pdf 54 KB] |