Airline must give job, pay and compo to sacked worker

Air New Zealand must reinstate a Christchurch worker who was sacked after admitting he may have played golf while on sick leave.

Check-in team leader John Wallace was fired in March after the carrier found details on a website of games he had played while listed as sick.

Mr Wallace told airport management that he may have played on those days, but was not sure, the Dominion Post reported at the weekend.

He said he remembered a day when he went home sick with flu and stress over his mother's death and his wife told him to play a round of golf.

But Air NZ did not accept his explanation and sacked him.

Mr Wallace took his case for unfair dismissal to the Employment Relations Authority, arguing Air NZ had not told him how serious his position was and had relied solely on the website for its information. He said it was possible the website had the wrong dates.

The company said it could not verify information on the website because his original scorecards had been destroyed.

But it concluded that he had played while on sick leave.

However, the authority found Air NZ had acted unfairly, having failed to consider whether Mr Wallace took days off to play golf, or was genuinely sick and later felt well enough to play.

It had also failed to look into his claim that he was stressed.

Air NZ was ordered to reinstate Mr Wallace and give him back-pay. He was awarded $5000 for humiliation, loss of dignity and injury to feelings.

- NZPA