A former accounts administrator at a Fox Glacier guiding company has been unsuccessful with a claim of personal grievance against her employer, after she was dismissed for leaving her job without explanation.
Theft charges were laid against Vicki Sweet in November last year, after Alpine Guides Fox Glacier Ltd brought a matter of missing cash takings from its cafe to the attention of police.
A determination from the Employment Relations Authority said Ms Sweet absented herself from work without explanation during the police investigation into the alleged criminal offending.
Five days after her unannounced absence from work, Alpine Guides wrote to Ms Sweet to inform her of their assumption she had abandoned her employment.
Under the terms of Ms Sweet's employment agreement, if an employee was absent without explanation for a continuous period of two working days, then they are deemed to have abandoned their employment and the job is terminated.
Ms Sweet did not contact Alpine Guides until May, when she wrote a letter to raise a personal grievance claim, after the theft charges against her were withdrawn by police.
She told the authority she had felt she was in a "hopeless position" during the time of the incident.
"I became very depressed about things and did not go back to work as I felt I could not do so given [Alpine] had brought a theft as a servant charge against me."
The authority determined the theft charge against Ms Sweet did not constitute an "exceptional circumstance" which gave grounds for a personal grievance.
"This was a situation where Ms Sweet simply left the workplace without explanation or authority, presumably because of her anxiety about the criminal investigation," the authority's James Crichton ruled.
Ms Sweet should have raised her concerns about how her employment ended "immediately", instead of waiting months to claim personal grievance, he said.
