| Restrictions | OK |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Employment Relations Authority - Wellington |
| Reference No | WA 79/08 |
| Hearing date | 29 May 2008 |
| Determination date | 04 June 2008 |
| Member | D Asher |
| Representation | G Ogilvie ; D Mitchell |
| Location | Wellington |
| Parties | Smith v Danaflex Packaging Corporation Ltd |
| Summary | UNJUSTIFIED DISMISSAL - Incapacity - Employment terminated on medical grounds - Applicant required to resume full rotating shift after not being required to work nightshifts for several years - Attributed frequent absences to health problems arising from nightshift work - Medical assessments concluded he should avoid nightshifts - Respondent considered absences impacting on business - Sought meeting to discuss options for ongoing employment - Applicant claimed disparity of treatment and being bullied to resign - Also raised health and safety issue, which matured into formal dispute - Dispute properly subsumed by respondent’s investigation of applicant’s unfitness to undertake nightshifts - Applicant clearly unable to do contracted duty without risk of worsening health/condition - No evidence of disparity of treatment - No alternative positions available - Fair and reasonable process led to dismissal - Dismissal justified - Question of applicant’s entitlement to redundancy compensation reserved in event respondent did not fill vacancy created by termination of applicant’s employment - No undertaking by respondent to postpone applicant’s ability to uplift voluntary redundancy - Printer |
| Result | Application dismissed ; Costs reserved |
| Main Category | Personal Grievance |
| Statutes | ERA s103A |
| Cases Cited | McKean v The Board of Trustees of Wakaaranga School [2007] ERNZ 1;Sky Network Television Ltd v Duncan [1998] 3 ERNZ 917 |
| Number of Pages | 9 |
| PDF File Link: | wa 79_08.pdf [pdf 30 KB] |