Employee awarded lost pay and compensation

A man who claimed his job was unjustifiably disadvantaged when he was given a final warning and later suspended was awarded lost pay and $5000 compensation for humiliation, loss of dignity and injury by the Employment Relations Authority.

Trevor Davidson was employed by funeral directors Gee and Hickton for more than four years and had been subject to many performance-related concerns, leading to formal warnings, in the last 18 months.

Mr Davidson complained to the authority that his employment with the company was unjustifiably disadvantaged by the issuing of a final warning and his later suspension.

Gee and Hickton claimed that the final warning was justified and that Mr Davidson was never suspended by it but rather, in the course of further disciplinary investigation. It was due to defaults by Mr Davidson that the parties were unable to agree on satisfactory terms for him to return to work.

On February 10 last year, Mr Davidson was given a written warning for making private telephone calls during work hours, "shirking" and returning late from lunch.

He was informed that any further instances of "established misconduct" would result in further disciplinary action.

Mr Davidson continued to use the phone for various reasons and it caused serious concern to the company.

A final warning noted that Mr Davidson acknowledged continuing to make such calls, that he had been spoken to on many occasions about this, that he had failed to carry out his duties diligently and had occasionally returned to work late after lunch.

The company later stopped Mr Davidson's pay and said his return to work was conditional on his being "fully fit and able return to his duties", and that he signed a memorandum stating any future misconduct would end in the termination of his employment.

The authority said that the company's final warning was justified given the lack of explanation from Mr Davidson at the time but overall he was treated fairly.

However, the form of self-help remedy that Gee and Hickton applied to Mr Davidson was not what a fair and reasonable employer would have done when it stopped his pay and refused to allow him to return to work.

While there were many delays caused by Mr Davidson in resolving the issue, some delays were also attributed to the company with its unclear communication.

The authority ruled that when Gee and Hickton stopped Mr Davidson's pay and refused to allow him to return to work, those actions were disadvantageous to his employment and were not justified.

It ordered the company to pay Mr Davidson lost pay from October 15 to December 15 and $5000 as compensation for humiliation, loss of dignity and injury to his feelings.

Costs were reserved.

- NZPA