Employer ordered to pay over $17,000 after dismissing an employee over text...

The Employment Relations Authority has ordered an employer to pay over $17,000 after finding that dismissing an employee over text was unjustified.

The employee started working for the employer when she was 14 years old. She was employed to work 12-16 hours a week over three evening shifts.

After six months of employment, she contracted Covid-19. She offered to work whilst infected, as she was fearful that her employer would not be able to find anyone to cover her shift. The employer asked her to work her first shift of the week but stated that she could take sick leave for the two remaining shifts of the week. The employee was not paid for either of the days she took off.

Two months later, the employee had a death in the family and had to travel out of town for the funeral. As a result, she missed two days of work. She informed her employer of this, and he stated that the employee was obligated to give him two weeks’ notice for any upcoming leave. These two days of absence were unpaid.

The following month, the employee fell ill. She informed the employer that she could not come to work. He told her that if she didn’t come into work on the Friday, he would dismiss her from her employment. He also inferred that the employee was in trouble with the IRD because of the leave she had taken up to this point.

The following week the employee was still sick. She told her employer that she would be unable to attend work. He stated that he couldn’t help her and again threatened to terminate her employment if she didn’t work her scheduled shift. The employee didn’t attend work and her employment was terminated, even though she obtained a doctor's certificate for the days that she missed.

The employee brought a claim of unjustified dismissal to the Authority.

The Authority decided that the dismissal was unjustified, as the actions of the employer were not what a fair and reasonable employer could have done in the circumstances. The employer did not:

• Provide any specific detail of issues relating to the employee’s job performance;
• Provide the employee with an opportunity to respond to allegations of poor job performance; or
• Consider any justification regarding allegations of poor job performance.

As well as this, the employee was entitled to both sick and bereavement leave, for which she was not required to provide two weeks’ notice as claimed by the employer. The Authority decided that she followed the appropriate steps to take both sick and bereavement leave. The employee was therefore entitled to be paid for the days she took off.

The Authority ordered the employer to pay $1,820 for unpaid wages and the leave that she was entitled to be paid for. The employer was also ordered to pay $3,430 in wages that the employee would have made had she not been dismissed, as well as $12,000 for the hurt and humiliation the dismissal caused to the employee.

If there is confusion regarding the appropriate dismissal process, it pays to seek advice from a professional with experience 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.