| Restrictions | OK |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Employment Relations Authority - Auckland |
| Reference No | AA 30/08 |
| Determination date | 04 February 2008 |
| Member | J Scott |
| Representation | C Wilson-Busing (in person) ; T Kennedy, S Ross |
| Location | Auckland |
| Parties | Wilson-Busing & Ors v New Zealand Public Service Association |
| Summary | PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Applicants claimed respondent breached duty of good faith by changing National Terms of Service (“NTS”) after ratification by including Health Promotion Officers (“HPO”) without three year degrees in Community Health Workers (“CHW”) scale – Applicant’s employer included negotiated conditions of NTS into Multi Employer Collective Agreement (“MECA”) which covered applicants – Applicant’s claim contrary to previous situation under CEA where Health Promotion workers covered under Health Education Officers’ scale and where all HPOs covered by separate scale (“Allied scale”) – Also claimed changes inconsistent with NTS and changes not put to workers for approval – Applicants claimed lost value of incremental movement available if had remained on Allied scale – Authority advised applicant that number of remedies sought not available – Authority advised that action available for penalty for breaches of s4(1) ERA in relation to changes made to NTS in subsequent negotiations to translate terms into new MECA – Respondent argued claim for penalty out of time – Respondent argued applicants knew or should have known about cause of action when delegates received copy of MECA on 26 April 2006 – Respondent claimed therefore last date for filing action in Authority was 25 April 2007 – Respondent argued claim out of time because not filed until 30 April 2007 therefore outside twelve month period – Applicants submitted claim received by Authority on 23 April 2007 but claim subsequently returned because documentation incomplete – Applicant filed claim again and asked Authority to accept claim as filed on 23 April 2007 – Authority had documentation that stated claim filed on 30 April 2007, however copy of statement of problem also held on file with 23 April 2007 date – Authority found alleged breach of good faith could not have become clear to applicants until at the earliest late May 2006 therefore application filed within 12 month timeframe in s135(5) ERA – Application filed in time |
| Result | Orders accordingly ; Costs reserved |
| Main Category | Practice & Procedure |
| Statutes | ERA s4(1);ERA s135;ERA s135(5) |
| Number of Pages | 5 |
| PDF File Link: | aa 30_08.pdf [pdf 23 KB] |