| (*General Distributors Ltd is part of Progressive Enterprises Ltd which
is Woolworth Australia - this entity makes things confusing with regard to
ownership in New Zealand. General public not aware as to actual owner.)
Supermarket worker wins authority caseThe New Zealand Herald:nzherald.co.nzFriday January 05, 2007A worker at Johnsonville's Countdown supermarket who was dismissed for not calling in sick every day of three day illness has won a case taken to the Employment Relations Authority. Kevin Gorman was seeking $10,000 compensation for unjustified dismissal. The authority awarded him $2500 and lost wages, the amount of which was still to be agreed. The employer, General Distributors Ltd*, argued that Mr Gorman had received a final warning on a range of employment related matters, including falsification of company documents. And that an appendix in his collective agreement required workers to inform employers each day they are sick. The authority found that the failure to ring in on the second day of a three-day absence for illness was a minor misconduct matter and that the trigger for dismissal was disproportionate to matters previously tolerated by the company. - NZPA |
