| Restrictions | OK |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Employment Relations Authority - Christchurch |
| Reference No | CA 167/08 |
| Determination date | 10 November 2008 |
| Member | H Doyle |
| Representation | R Towner ; T WIlton |
| Location | Christchurch |
| Parties | DB Breweries Ltd v New Zealand Amalgamated Engineering Printing & Manufacturing Union |
| Summary | DISPUTE – Applicant sought finding that, under clause of collective employment agreement (“CEA”), able to change employees’ hours requiring them to work shifts – Applicant claimed clause unambiguous and natural meaning that applicant had right to require employees to work shifts regardless of whether they presently worked shifts – Respondent union argued clause created categories of employees, day work or shift work, which could not be changed without employee’s agreement – Respondent argued clause referred to changes within parameters of ordinary hours of work, not changes of work categories – Authority found clause 3.3 must be read in context of whole of clause 3 and surrounding circumstances apparent to parties at time entered CEA – Found if clause intended to apply to day work employees, would not have been placed under heading “shift work employees” – Found shift work and day work employees had different entitlements under CEA – Found CEA contained two distinct categories of employees, with different parameters in terms of ordinary hours of work and days of work – Found objectively, intention of parties under clause not to change day work employees’ ordinary hours of work to make them shift workers – Found employees’ agreement required – Mediation ordered |
| Result | Questions answered ; Costs reserved |
| Main Category | Dispute |
| Statutes | ERA s129(2) |
| Cases Cited | The Association of Staff in Tertiary Education Inc: ASTE Te Hau Takitini o Aotearoa and Ors v Hampton, Chief Executive of the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic [2002] 1 ERNZ 491;Cuttriss v Carter Holt Harvey Ltd [2007] ERNZ 233 |
| Number of Pages | 6 |
| PDF File Link: | ca 167_08.pdf [pdf 26 KB] |