Beautician cleared to raise grievance after harassment

It is alleged that the primary purpose of the associate was to force the employees by any means to sign "Employment Agreements" prepared by the employer. Photo / Thinkstock

A nail beautician who says she was verbally harassed and forced to switch off her cellphone by an associate of her employer has been granted the right to make a personal grievance more than 90 days after the incident occurred.

Duyen Thi Bich Nguyen, an employee at Kim's Nails that operates at the Colombo Shopping Mall in Christchurch, said an associate of her employer entered the salon in May last year and took over the staff and business operation at the request of the salon owner.

The associate allegedly shouted and threatened the employees, made them turn off their mobile phones, would not let them make any calls. She also demolished some of the counters in which products were displayed and threw them all over the floor.

It is alleged that the primary purpose of the associate was to force the employees by any means to sign "Employment Agreements" prepared by the employer.

Ms Nguyen had tried to claim personal grievance for unjustified disadvantage in relation to the alleged actions of her employers associate against her.

Her claim was however refuted by her employer because it fell outside of the 90-day time frame provided by the Employment Relations Act 2000 for claiming personal grievance. Her employer did not consent to the personal grievance being raised out of time.

The Employment Relations Authority found that the personal grievance in relation to the alleged actions of Ms Simmons was not raised within the 90-day period.
However, member of the ERA, David Appleton, found there to be exceptional circumstances contributing to a delay in Ms Nguyen raising the personal grievance.

"When I take into account the nature of the allegations made in relation to the associate, which, on their face, are serious and warrant investigation, I believe that, in all the circumstances of the case, it is just to grant leave," he said.
"The allegations will need to be investigated during the substantive investigation of this matter."