ERA said there was 'no genuine redundancy situation' at organisation
A dairy farm assistant in Southland has won nearly $20,000 after the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) ruled that she was unfairly dismissed by her employer last year.
The ERA ruled that Sharna Andrews was "unfairly targeted" by Shanora Limited when she was made redundant.
"I find… that the redundancy was not genuine and Ms. Andrews was unfairly targeted," ruled ERA member David Beck.
Employment dispute
Andrews was terminated in 2023 after being hired as a full-time dairy farm assistant starting August 2022.
The ERA heard that she was "selected for redundancy due to the restructure of the business."
There had been a discussion about changing her hours, but none were suitable, according to the letter given to Andrews and signed by Shanora co-director Shane Hitchcock.
Hitchcock told the ERA that he sought legal advice from the Federated Farmers about the process that he should use.
According to the director, he had "little cause" to question Andrews' performance at work, but he was under pressure from a farm owner who had been clawing back money from him due to a previous incident where Andrews reportedly wrongly mowed some pasture.
Around the same time of Andrews' departure, another farm worker had also left the organisation due to performance issues. And around a week after she was made redundant, Shanora advertised on Facebook an opening for a "farm assistant herd manager."
Unjustified dismissal
Given these circumstances, Beck said that "no genuine redundancy situation" existed at Shanora.
"Ms. Andrews was misled by the reasons given to her for her employment ending in what was a process that lacked her input," the ERA member said.
There was also a "total of adherence" by Shanora to procedural fairness and good faith factors. There was also no fair process that was engaged in.
"Overall, I have found in the circumstances, that Ms. Andrews was unjustifiably dismissed in a procedurally and substantively unfair manner that breached the provisions of her individual employment agreement," Beck said.
As a result, Shanora was ordered to pay Andrews $4,086 in gross lost wages, $1,526.84 in arrears of wages, as well as a $14,000 net compensation payment.
