Employer ordered to pay $17,500 after an employee was fired...

The Employment Relations Authority has ordered an employer to pay $17,500 after an employee was dismissed after losing his driver’s licence.

The employee worked for the employer for over a year without incident. It was then brought to the attention of the employer that the employee had lost his driver’s licence.

At around this time the employee took a week off to deal with a significant event in his personal life. When the employee was ready to return to work, he texted his boss asking whether he was allowed to return the following day. The employer replied that evening instructing the employee to take the rest of the week off and that he could come on the following Monday.

On the following Monday the employer explained to the employee that he could not do his job without a driver’s licence and dismissed him.

The Authority had to decide whether the employer’s actions were what a fair and reasonable employer could have done in the circumstances.

The Authority decided that the employer should have:

• investigated its concerns;
• raised its concerns with the employee;
• provided the employee with a reasonable opportunity to respond to its concerns; and
• considered this response prior to dismissing the employee.

This led the Authority to decide that the employer had unjustifiably dismissed the employee.

The Authority did however reduce the remedies it awarded by 15 per cent, as it was acknowledged that the employee couldn’t have continued to work without a driver’s licence.

The employer was ordered to pay $10,200 as compensation for the hurt and humiliation caused by the dismissal, as well as $7,300 for lost wages.

If there is confusion around the dismissal process, it pays to seek advice from a professional in the area.

Leading law firms committed to helping clients cost-effectively will have a range of fixed-price Initial Consultations to suit most people’s needs in quickly learning what their options are.  At Rainey Collins we have an experienced team who can answer your questions and put you on the right track.