| Restrictions | OK |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Employment Relations Authority - Wellington |
| Reference No | WA 121/06 |
| Hearing date | 2 Aug 2006 |
| Determination date | 11 September 2006 |
| Member | D Asher |
| Representation | T Petherick ; E Brown |
| Location | Wellington |
| Parties | Smith v Nga Kairauhii Trust |
| Summary | RAISING PERSONAL GRIEVANCE - Whether grievance raised within 90 days - Grievance raised over 14 months after date alleged dismissed and over 13 months after resolved arrears claims - No written employment agreement - Respondent breached obligation to provide plain language explanation of services available for resolution of employment problems - Exceptional circumstances - Authority did not accept delay occasioned by lack of explanation - Around time of alleged dismissal applicant obtained advice from Department of Labour's Mediation Service (MS") about arrears claim - On balance of probabilities would have raised dismissal concerns with MS at same time and been told of time limit - If concerns not raised with MS was because did not believe herself dismissed - Accessing MS evidence of familiarity with rights - Seeking arrears, including holiday pay, circumstantial evidence of applicant electing to leave employment to seek other work - Reasonable to expect applicant aware of rights when received employment agreement setting out time limit at next job - In all probability applicant elected to leave respondent and seek employment elsewhere - Substantive shortcomings meant not just to allow claim to be brought out of time - Administration support" |
| Result | Application dismissed ; Costs reserved |
| Statutes | ERA s65;ERA s65(2)(a)(vi);ERA s115(c) |
| Cases Cited | Bryson v Three Foot Six Ltd unreported, Shaw J, 1 September 2006, WC 17/06 |
| Number of Pages | 12 |
| PDF File Link: | wa 121_06.pdf [pdf 47 KB] |