Union wins appeal in annual leave case

A fight by Auckland bus drivers for five weeks' leave instead of the statutory four weeks is back on again after a successful trip to the Court of Appeal.

The drivers employed by Transportation Auckland Corp and Cityline New Zealand Ltd had four weeks' leave, one week more than that of most workers before a change to the Holidays Act gave all workers four weeks.

The case covers about 1000 Stagecoach Auckland bus drivers.

The drivers argue they should still get an extra week in recognition of the nature of the work, including irregular hours.

A Tramways Union and National Distribution Union (NDU) appeal to the Full Court of the Employment Court was dismissed and the unions took the matter to the Court of Appeal.

One of the three Court of Appeal judges hearing the case dissented from the decision released today.

An issue in the case was the purpose of having more than the minimum legally allowed amount of annual leave.

The majority of judges in the Court of Appeal held that the Employment Court erred in drawing a distinction between "enhanced entitlements" and "additional entitlements".

Because they believed this may have affected the Employment Court's interpretation of the collective agreement they decided the matter should be sent back to the court for reconsideration.

The dissenting judge said the majority found that the Employment Court had over-analysed Parliament's language and he did not agree with this position.

The Employment Court ruled the workers' current four weeks were all holiday leave. As four weeks met the requirements of the new entitlement, there was no need to give the workers another week.

The court's decision meant employees wanting five weeks' annual leave would have to talk to their employer and reach agreement - they could not expect it by right.

- NZPA