A Filipino pipe fitter has lost a personal grievance claim against a Whangarei ship builder, alleging he was harassed and bullied into taking English lessons.
Rudy Ponce was recruited in the Philippines in 2008 to work as a pipe fitter, along with five other Filipinos, at Shipco Marine Constructors in Whangarei.
By February 2009, director Pat Ganley became concerned about the adequacy of the English language skills on-site.
Mr Ganley believed the skill levels were such that they posed a safety risk. He met with the workers to propose that English language lessons be offered to them by a qualified tutor, and said the workers considered this a good idea.
Mr Ponce attended some of the lessons with a tutor, but later Mr Ganley and another staff member took the lessons and Mr Ponce stopped going in May 2010.
He took a case to the Employment Relations Authority alleging Shipco harassed and bullied him into taking English lessons, which he claimed were compulsory. He said this was an unjustifiable action which affected his employment. Mr Ponce also sought payment of a ship repair allowance to which he said he was entitled under his employment agreement, as well as payment for time spent attending the lessons.
Shipco denied that Mr Ponce was harassed and bullied into taking English lessons, and said any grievance was not raised within the 90-day period required.
The company said he was not owed the payments he claimed.
In its decision, the ERA found in favour of Shipco, with authority member Rosemary Monaghan saying she was not persuaded Mr Ponce's attendance was compulsory and there will be no order for payment.
The ERA heard that initially the lessons were conducted on-site once a week for two hours after work. The tutor was paid, and payments were deducted from the employees' wages. A dispute about the deductions was resolved in September 2010 by repayment of the deductions to employees, including Mr Ponce.
After the tutor left, the lessons were conducted by Mr Ganley, or one of the foremen, in two one-hour sessions per week. No further charges were levied after December 2009.
Ms Monaghan said Mr Ponce's English is good and he had suggested to Mary Anne Calustre, a member of the management team, that it was not necessary for him to attend the lessons.
Mr Ponce told the authority Ms Calustre said everybody was obliged to attend the lessons and threatened several times to have him sent back to the Philippines if he refused. Ms Calustre denied this and the authority agreed.
"It is possible that at least some employees had an unsatisfactory standard of English and their attendance at lessons may in effect have been compulsory.
"However, nothing in Mr Ponce's account amounted to evidence that Mr Ponce himself was instructed to attend lessons when he queried whether his attendance was necessary," Ms Monaghan found.
Ms Monaghan said Mr Ponce's personal grievance was not raised in the time required under the Employment Relations Act and cannot proceed.