Woman took company to ERA for refusing her work-from-home request - and lost

A woman took her boss to the Employment Relations Authority after her request to work from home was declined. Photo / Unsplash

A woman who said she would “never backstab” her boss raised a grievance after the company said no to her work-from-home request.

Philippa Johnson resigned from Cervin Media in 2021 saying she needed a job that let her work remotely, then retracted it at 8pm the same day, claiming she did it under pressure.

“Is there any way I could come back to work tomorrow?” she asked.

When her boss said no, she went to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) claiming she was forced to resign.

Johnson was hired in 2018 as a senior account manager in charge of Australian clients at the small business, which publishes the annual NZ Medical Specialist Directory.

Her first year of work went well and in March 2021, she asked to work remotely from her partner’s house in the Bay of Islands, according to an ERA determination dated April 26.

She was told the proposal was not acceptable because the company was trying to build up the nucleus in the Auckland office.

Johnson admitted accepting the decision “without a fuss”, but later told other staff she was unhappy about it.

Managing director Anne-Marie Cervin heard about this and arranged a meeting with Johnson, who explained she was not unhappy and only told other staff because they asked.

She would “never backstab Ms Cervin after the company had done so much for her”, the ERA decision noted.

Cervin later spoke to other staff, at least three of whom said Johnson told them about her dissatisfaction.

One claimed Johnson also made inappropriate negative comments about several other staff, and asked her to place sales leads under Johnson’s name.

Troubled, Cervin wrote to Johnson detailing her concerns - that Johnson had misrepresented what she told colleagues about working from home, as well as the sales lead issue, which was “seriously dishonest and bad-faith behaviour”, Cervin wrote.

At a second meeting, Johnson admitted telling a colleague to put sales leads in her name was a mistake, showed remorse and apologised before saying she would resign and “go quietly with no fuss”.

She emailed her resignation after the meeting.

“It is with great sadness in my heart that I tender my resignation to you at Cervin Media Ltd effective immediately,” she wrote, thanking her manager and the Cervins for their support and guidance.

“I leave because I need to find a role where I can work remotely from home.”

Cervin offered to pay Johnson four weeks’ notice and to provide a verbal reference for her sales ability.

The same evening at 8pm, Johnson emailed again, this time to retract her resignation, saying she did it in haste to appease her bosses and regretted it.

“I am at home facing the cold reality that I have a family to support... Is there any way that I could come back to work tomorrow?”

Cervin considered the request overnight and stood firm on the resignation.

Johnson’s lawyer raised a grievance a few days later, claiming she was constructively dismissed, or forced to resign.

She would later tell the ERA she was “sobbing exhausted” at the meeting, then “marched back” to her desk by her manager who “stood over” her while she typed her resignation letter in tears.

But the manager and Cervin’s account was that Johnson was not agitated at the meeting - she was calm and slightly teary but contrite, which ERA member Nicola Craig accepted.

“Ms Johnson now attempts to create a different picture, but the impression created at the time was that she resigned as she sincerely recognised that she had backstabbed Ms Cervin and then lied about it, as well as encouraged a new staff member to (improperly) send leads to her,” Craig said.

She found Cervin Media did not act deliberately in a way that put pressure on Johnson to resign.

On the contrary, the company ensured Johnson was aware the allegations were serious and gave her an informed opportunity to respond both in writing and in person.

“Ms Johnson would have preferred the whole thing to go away, but there was no surreptitious plan to make life difficult for her and push her to the point of resignation,” the ERA member said.

Speaking to NZME through her lawyer, Johnson said she was disappointed with the outcome.

Asked to comment, Cervin said she was pleased.

“This is the first time the company has been in the Employment Relations Authority in our 34-year history,” she said.