| Restrictions | OK |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Employment Relations Authority - Christchurch |
| Reference No | CA 111/07 |
| Hearing date | 1 Aug 2007 |
| Determination date | 12 September 2007 |
| Member | H Doyle |
| Representation | T Wilton ; G Pollak |
| Location | Christchurch |
| Parties | Snow & 29 Ors v Fonterra Co-Operative Group Ltd |
| Summary | DISPUTE - Applicants sought determination that superannuation provision in collective employment agreement (CEA") had retrospective effect - Respondent claimed it agreed to applicants becoming eligible for superannuation benefit but eligibility began when employee applied and became member of scheme - Parties had agreed to backdating clause for CEA - Date CEA came into force specified as earlier than date signed - Superannuation benefit clear and unambiguous - Respondent's obligation to subsidise contributions arose when employee made contribution - Backdating contributions to superannuation scheme to point in time where employee did not have corresponding membership and could not make contributions to scheme a different benefit to that contained in plain words of CEA - Provision not capable of application and operation in way intended by employee joining scheme and then backdating contributions for respondent to subsidise to a point where there was no corresponding membership - Not appropriate to find parties intended provision apply retrospectively in absence of express provision applying it that way - Superannuation provision did not have retrospective effect - Tradespeople" |
| Result | Question answered in favour of respondent ; Costs reserved |
| Main Category | Dispute |
| Statutes | ERA s52(1)(a) |
| Cases Cited | Butler and Ors v Carter Holt Harvey Ltd unreported, Couch J, 14 October 2005, AC 57/05;NZ Amalgamated Engineering Printing & Manufacturing Union and Anor v Assa Abloy New Zealand Ltd unreported, G J Wood, 21 November 2005, WA 178/05 |
| Number of Pages | 10 |
| PDF File Link: | ca 111_07.pdf [pdf 41 KB] |