An Auckland man who was employed by an aquatic pet store for six years was dismissed with a two-sentence email and left his position with 41 days of unused annual leave - which he was not compensated for upon his redundancy.
The man, Mr Foster, was employed by Aquaworld Ltd - an aquarium shop on Auckland's North Shore - from March 12, 2014 to August 10, 2020. He began working as a junior aquarist on a casual basis before taking on a full-time role, which was eventually terminated for redundancy in July 2020.
The terms of his employment, recorded in a written employment agreement dated June 9, 2015, stated Mr Foster’s hours of work as "normally be(ing) 40 hours per week", "from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Sunday, including 30min paid lunch break". He was paid a weekly salary of $600. In 2020, his payslips showed an hourly rate of $22 per hour.
On July 27, 2020, the man was sent an abrupt two-sentence email announcing his impending redundancy after six years of service. The email expressed that the shop would close on August 10, and therefore his employment would be terminated on that date.
"Our shop will be closed at 10/08/20,also this is you(sic) last day for work. So u(sic) will be(sic) not work at Aquaworld at 10/08/20," the email read.
In July this year, the man took the matter to the Employment Relations Authority in a bid to recover arrears of wages from Aquaworld, who failed to pay him for his last six days of work prior to his redundancy.
The company also failed to pay their former staffer his outstanding holiday pay, which amounted to 41 days of unused annual leave - equating to a pay-out of more than $7200.
In his determination, Employment Relations Authority adjudicator Leon Robinson noted that despite being provided notice of Mr Foster's claim and being fully informed of the steps of the investigation, Aquaworld took "no steps" in the investigation. No one from the company attended the investigation meeting on July 2, 2021.
During the investigation, Mr Foster produced a spreadsheet tracking the payment of his weekly salary - "or more correctly, the late payment", Robinson added.
"The spreadsheet tracks weekly payment delays for a period of many years," he continued.
"I am satisfied he performed six days' work for Aquaworld on 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 August 2020 and Monday 10 August 2020. I am further satisfied that he was not paid the salary he was entitled to in respect of those days of work."
Robinson said he was also satisfied that Mr Foster had been entitled to 41 days of annual leave at the time of his redundancy and that Aquaworld had failed to remit his outstanding holiday pay.
He noted it was "disturbing" that the employer appeared to not encourage - or permit - Mr Foster to take his annual leave.
"That is eight weeks of paid leave over two years of service. It is disturbing that this employer did not see fit to permit Mr Foster the rest and recreation he was entitled to.
"I conclude then that Mr Foster, having performed work, was not paid the salary he was entitled to under the terms of his employment agreement. I conclude too that he has not been paid his annual leave entitlements for annual leave not taken due to him at termination."
The former staffer only pursued the recovery of wage arrears and was not interested in challenging the termination of his employment or any other aspect of the matter - a move Robinson described as "generous".
Aquaworld has been ordered to pay $8272 to Mr Foster, $7216 of which covers his outstanding annual leave. The additional $1056 covers six days of outstanding salary. The company had 28 days from the date of the determination - until August 10 - to pay the arrears, as well as $71.56 reimbursement for the lodgement fee.
Robinson noted that correspondence from Aquaworld's accountants differed from the above sums and was "more generous" to Mr Foster when outlining the details of his termination pay. However, the adjudicator said he was "unsure of the context" of the calculations and was unsure whether PAYE (pay as you earn) was "actually paid by Aquaworld to the commissioner of Inland Revenue.
A post on Aquaworld's Facebook page dated July 20, 2020 said the business was relocating due to the owner of the previous building selling the premises.
The last post on the page is dated August 10, 2020, the same date as Mr Foster's employment was terminated.
A search on Google shows an Aquaworld is currently operating in the North Shore suburb of Wairau Park.
