The worker, who has final name suppression, took McCarthy Enterprises Ltd (MEL), represented by its co-director Patricia Margaret McCarthy, to the Employment Relations Authority earlier this year.
The company was ordered to pay the sum for the worker’s constructive dismissal, but that amount could increase as issues of unpaid wages are being in-
vestigated further.
The company owned multiple liquor stores throughout Dunedin and Mrs McCarthy had been in hot water before after selling alcohol to underaged customers and appearing in court last year for selling alcohol without a licence.
In the decision released this week, authority member Philip Cheyne found Mrs McCarthy’s targeted company restructure and failure to promptly provide the employee with records of their pay and contract on request led to their resignation.
The worker also made various other claims, including of bullying and harassment and criticism of events regarding the sale of a puppy during their employment, but the authority did not find those matters to be relevant.
At a hearing in February, the authority heard the employee had worked at two Dunedin liquor stores owned by MEL from October 2021.
Mr Cheyne said the company did not act in the way a fair and reasonable employer should in the circumstances.
During the worker’s employment, they suffered an injury which they said happened on the job — though Mrs McCarthy disputed that at the hearing.
Because of the injury, the worker’s hours were reduced and they needed financial support from the ACC and Ministry of Social Development (MSD).
When they asked MEL for copies of their payslips and contract to provide to the government departments, the employer failed to respond in a timely manner, Mr Cheyne found.
Mrs McCarthy said her own copy of the contract had "gone missing" and recalled the employee’s minimum weekly hours "from memory".
The worker thought it was "convenient" the contract could not be located, but Mr Cheyne said there was no reason to dispute the employer’s explanation.
From December 2022, the employee attempted to have the company provide their pay information to the ACC and also to the MSD.
MEL asked the worker to return keys to a store in exchange for the information being provided, which they did.
This meant the employee did not get funds from the ACC until the next month.
Mr Cheyne said the failure to provide the contract and payslips amounted to "serious breaches of obligations" to the employee.
"It created a substantial risk that [the employee] would resign," the authority found.
Another factor discussed at the hearing was a restructure, which the employee believed was "targeted" and affected only them.
Mr Cheyne agreed after hearing evidence that an email about reduced hours was sent only to the employee, meaning they were the only staff member affected by the changes.
The authority found MEL had constructively dismissed the employee and the ordeal had caused them "distress and harm" within the lower range.
