New Zealand - Help with rounds gets postie fired

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A New Zealand Post postie fired for missing work and having his brother helping on his rounds has been awarded compensation.

An Employment Relations Authority decision found Auckland postie Tyrone Underhill was unfairly dismissed by NZ Post in April.

Issues began in 2011 when Underhill suffered a rugby injury and was placed on sick leave.

The date of Underhill's return to work was disputed and he was given a verbal warning. That was followed by further warnings due to a series of unexplained absences.

NZ Post also claimed Underhill did not seek permission for having help on his run from his brother, another postie employed by the company.

ERA Member Tania Tetitaha found NZ Post's decision to dismiss Underhill was procedurally flawed.

That was due to errors in the written and final warnings which did not follow the process for fairly dealing with employment misconduct.

Given those warnings were key to the decision to dismiss, that created unfairness for Underhill, Tetitaha noted.

Underhill was awarded three months of lost wages and $2500 compensation for hurt and humiliation.

Tetitaha reduced the compensation from $5000 after taking into account Underhill's unauthorised absences and his telling a ​lie about his attendance at a tangi.