Restrictions OK
Jurisdiction Employment Relations Authority - Christchurch
Reference No CA 85/10
Hearing date 27 Jan 2010
Determination date 08 April 2010
Member P Montgomery
Representation M Sinclair ; S Thomas
Location Invercargill
Parties Sands v Waverly Services Ltd t/a Challenge Glengary
Summary UNJUSTIFIED DISMISSAL – Poor performance – Applicant claimed unjustified dismissal – Respondent claimed dismissal resulted from applicant’s inability to operate software package used in business – Respondent claimed problems experienced by applicant led to respondent spending considerable time after hours tracing and fixing errors – Respondent claimed applicant had significant difficulty doing daily balances – Respondent discovered significant errors in processing invoices – Applicant subsequently dismissed – Authority found no formal process instigated to provide applicant period to improve – Found respondent failed to act as fair and reasonable employer – Dismissal unjustified – REMEDIES – No contributory conduct – Applicant sought reimbursement of lost wages – Found employment relationship unlikely to continue for more than one month following expiry of notice period – Reimbursement of four weeks wages appropriate – Found applicant suffered detriment and fall in confidence following dismissal – $2,500 compensation appropriate – COSTS – Successful personal grievance claim – Length of investigation meeting not specified – Costs in favour of applicant – Office administrator
Result Application granted ; Reimbursement of lost wages (4 weeks wages) ; Compensation for humiliation etc ($2,500) ; Costs in favour of applicant ($750)
Main Category Personal Grievance
Statutes ERA s103A
Cases Cited Trotter v Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Ltd [1993] 2 ERNZ 659;Ramankutty v Vice-Chancellor of the University of Auckland unreported, Goddard CJ, 25 Oct 2001 AC 53B/01
Number of Pages 7
PDF File Link: ca 85_10.pdf [pdf 26 KB]