| Restrictions | OK |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Employment Relations Authority - Wellington |
| Reference No | WA 61/07 |
| Hearing date | 13 Mar 2007 |
| Determination date | 26 April 2007 |
| Member | D Asher |
| Representation | P McBride ; A Scott-Howman |
| Location | Wellington |
| Parties | Bachelor & 34 Ors v Secretary for Justice, Minstry of Justice |
| Summary | DISPUTE - Applicants submitted new Remuneration Policy misapplied - Respondent contended Policy, and associated obligations, overtaken by agreement reached with relevant employees to accept prescribed pay increases - Communications from respondent did not suggest acceptance of percentage increases entailed giving up Policy as term of employment - Ministry obliged to analyse market remuneration data in relation to applicants' salary ranges and publish results - Ministry obligations to adjust salary ranges set out in Policy, including application of results of market data - Obligations to obtain funding set out in Policy and in statutes applicant to respondent - Respondent obliged to communicate sufficient information to applicants on application of Policy to meet obligations of good faith - Agreed percentage increases did not vary contractual obligations owed by respondent to applicants under policy - Applicants that had not agreed to specifically incorporate new Policy argued new remuneration structure still applied to them -However, they were not party to it and could not claim its benefits - Despite being called a policy" it was not expression of respondent's right to manage and it did not extend to them by way of some general administrative principle - Court staff" |
| Result | Questions answered ; Costs reserved |
| Main Category | Practice & Procedure |
| Statutes | Public Finance Act 1989;State Sector Act 1988;State Sector Amendment Act 2003 |
| Cases Cited | Bachelor & 35 Ors v Secretary for Justice, Ministry of Justice unreported, D Asher, 1 March 2007, WA 31/07);McIntosh v AgResearch - New Zealand Pastoral Agriculture Research Institute Ltd [2002] 2 ERNZ 50;Chief Executive of the Ministry of Maori Development v Travers-Jones [2003] 1 ERNZ 174;Stimpson v Auckland Health Care Services Ltd t/a Auckland Health Care [1993] 2 ERNZ 614 |
| Number of Pages | 16 |
| PDF File Link: | wa 61_07.pdf [pdf 54 KB] |