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Air New Zealand has lost its appeal against an Employment Court decision on airline pilots working on statutory holidays.
The Court of Appeal has upheld an Employment Court decision that members of the NZ Airline Pilots Association are entitled to a day in lieu and a pay rate of time-and-a-half for working on public holidays.
Association president Mark Rammell said the pilots were pleased with the result. "Air NZ appealed the decision of the Employment Court and we cross appealed and Air NZ's appeal was not upheld and our cross appeal was," Mr Rammell said.
The dispute between the pilots and Air NZ arose over section 44 (2) of the Holidays Act 2003.
In its judgment the appeal court said that under a collective agreement, predating the act, pilots could be rostered to work on a public holiday.
The pilots did not receive extra pay, but instead the collective agreement provided them with 11 additional days of leave, added to their annual leave, regardless of the number of public holidays they actually worked.
The pilots argued that the agreement did not comply with the act because an employee working on a public holiday was entitled not only to an alternative day's leave, but also to be paid time-and-a-half for that day.
They conceded that the additional leave entitlement met the requirements, but said the agreement failed to meet the minimum pay requirement.
- NZPA
