The term "café culture" has a particular meaning within the urban dictionary. It is intended to refer to the culture of visiting cafes, for coffee, brunch or lunch, and partaking in the seeing and being seen at the popular venues in town.
From an employment perspective, the Employment Relations Authority is frequently required to deal with issues arising from the other side of café culture - the working environment inside those popular cafes.
Those of you following Masterchef New Zealand will have seen that kitchens can be stressful environments, and therefore it is perhaps not surprising that a number of cases arise from within the hospitality industry.
In a recent decision of the Employment Relations Authority, the Authority found that Mrs Ayyildiz, a kitchen hand and 'preparation chef' had not established her claim for constructive dismissal against Harrison Café Limited.
Mrs Ayyildiz left her job on 24 August 2008 after an incident in which the head chef at the café swore at her. She alleged that she had previously raised issues with the company director, that the chef did not let her take breaks and had criticised her for not completing her work fast enough, and that the company had failed to address those issues.
She alleged this meant she did not leave her job willingly, but instead felt that she had no choice but to do so.
Constructive dismissal has a necessarily high threshold and in this case, Mrs Ayyildiz failed to convince the Authority that she met the threshold and had no choice but to leave.
In reaching its decision, the Authority examined the facts and held that the company had in fact responded to the issues that Mrs Ayyildiz had raised.
This included speaking with the head chef about his demands on Mrs Ayyildiz and disciplining him when it was made aware of unacceptable treatment of Mrs Ayyildiz. Ultimately, the Authority held that the argument which occurred between the parties on 24 August 2008, which led to Mrs Ayyildiz walking out, was unfortunate, but did not amount to a breach of duties by the company.
This case, while being quite unremarkable, is nevertheless a reminder of a number of important points. First, there is a high threshold for establishing a claim for constructive dismissal. An employee cannot simply leave their employment claiming they had no option but to do so.
The facts must support a background that, for example, the employee had raised issues with the company and the company had failed to deal with them. The case is also a useful reminder of the need on the part of an employer to deal with issues when raised. If this is done, this can significantly minimise the risk of any successful claim.
Finally, the case reminds us that situations like this can occur in any working environment, from the café down the road to the likes of Telecom and Air New Zealand. But don't let that put you off your coffee!
Bridget Smith
Bridget Smith is an employment lawyer at Minter Ellison Rudd Watts
