ERA orders $20,000 compo

A form employee at Waiariki Institute of Technology is being paid $20,000 after he was made redundant while recovering from major surgery.

Waiariki Institute of Technology has been ordered to pay $20,000 to a former employee who was made redundant while recovering from major surgery.

Dr Christopher Asby was projects manager in January 2013 when the educational facility undertook a restructuring process to save money.

An Employment Relations Authority finding released at the end of last week said Waiariki faced a $3.9 million loss in projected revenue for the year and it was decided restructuring was necessary.

Dr Asby filed a personal grievance with the authority after he was made redundant. He claimed he was unjustifiably dismissed because brain surgery, and recovery from that, meant he could not participate in the consultation process.

He also claimed Waiariki was in breach of its return to work policy as he was not reasonably reintegrated back into the workplace, nor was there meaningful rehabilitation made available to him.

The authority said it was probable that this "affected his preparation, to some degree, for the interviews regarding the three positions he applied for".

Dr Asby had been employed at Waiariki since 2004. In January 2013 he was informed that changes proposed in the review might impact on his role and that draft job descriptions would be available on the intranet. But at the same time he underwent brain/nerve surgery, which meant he would be absent from work for at least four weeks. Because of this he didn't receive the consultation letter and he couldn't access the intranet. He said he felt physically incapable of engaging with the consultation process.

The authority decided that Dr Asby had no grounds to claim unjustifiable dismissal as Waiariki took "reasonable steps, in the circumstances, to consult with Dr Asby and obtain his feedback".

But he was "unjustifiably disadvantaged" in his employment as Waiariki failed to follow its return to work procedure and implement a return to work plan for him. The lack of "meaningful rehabilitation" meant this "affected his preparation, to some degree, for the interviews regarding the three positions he applied for".

Dr Asby applied for three roles but was unsuccessful after interviewing, which took place when he had been back at work part-time for five days.