| Restrictions | OK |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Employment Relations Authority - Auckland |
| Reference No | AA 210/07 |
| Hearing date | 6 Jul 2007 |
| Determination date | 12 July 2007 |
| Member | R Arthur |
| Representation | T Kurta ; no appearance |
| Location | Auckland |
| Parties | Burroughs v Skin Spa Ltd t/a Essentially You |
| Summary | UNJUSTIFIED DISMISSAL - Serious misconduct - No appearance for respondent - Applicant claimed accused of dishonesty and summarily dismissed - Claimed no opportunity to respond to allegation – Applicant’s sworn evidence accepted - Employee accused of dishonesty to be given information about allegation and opportunity to comment before employer makes any decision about allegation - Authority found respondent dismissed applicant without taking account of, or investigating any information or response from applicant - Dismissal unjustified - Remedies - Applicant without work for over three months - Authority satisfied applicant made adequate attempts to mitigate loss - Applicant entitled to 14 weeks reimbursement of lost wages - Applicant upset about suddenness of dismissal and humiliated by accusation of theft - Applicant embarrassed when had to explain circumstances of leaving previous employment to prospective new employers - Compensation of $2,000 awarded - PENALTY - Applicant sought penalty for failure to provide written employment agreement - Despite repeated requests and assurances, no agreement provided - Respondent had access to, and had used, Department of Labour resource that would have allowed creation of written employment agreement - No excuse for failure to provide agreement - Penalty of $500 appropriate, payable to Crown - COSTS - Applicant sought costs of $750 - Amount within Authority’s usual tariff based approach award for less than half day investigation meeting - Applicant entitled to costs - Beauty therapist |
| Result | Application granted ; Reimbursement of lost wages ($5,712) ; Compensation for humiliation etc ($2,000) ; Penalty ($500)(Payable to Crown) ; Costs in favour of applicant ($750) ; Disbursements in favour of applicant ($70)(Filing fee) |
| Main Category | Personal Grievance |
| Statutes | ERA s65 |
| Number of Pages | 5 |
| PDF File Link: | aa 210_07.pdf [pdf 20 KB] |