This is really a note of caution to everyone. If you’re an employee and your employer goes nuts and tells you to leave, generally the safest thing is probably to leave. If you’re an employer and you are not happy with your employee’s work, go through a disciplinary process.
In this case, the chef, W, had been employed at the restaurant for about a month. By agreement he had worked almost seven days a week the entire period. At that point, an incident occurred. On W’s account, the employer had become aggressive with out real provocation and stood over him shouted at him.
Later, W gave a letter to the employer saying he liked his job but would not accept being treated like that and that if it did not change, he “might have to take legal action”. On W’s account the employer then dismissed him for having threatened legal action. W refused to leave until he was given “severance pay” and a letter confirming the dismissal. That’s when the employer called the Police. On the employer’s account of events, he had to call the police because W was creating a scene in front of customers and refused to calm down.
Dramatic as all that may sound, the employer must have then decided W wasn’t so bad after all because he called him back a few days later and asked him to come back to work. However, that was only to last a couple more days before there was another argument and W was fired again. Again, W refused to leave unless he got a letter confirming dismissal and, again, he was removed by the Police.
The employer failed to attend the Employment Relations Authority hearing so W’s version of events was accepted. He was awarded three weeks pay in lieu of notice and a further three weeks lost earnings for the time he was out of work. The Authority didn’t order any further compensation for hurt and humiliation as it noted the incident was not so humiliating that W was not prepared to go back to work and start again a few days later. It also said that choosing to stay at the restaurant after having been asked to leave was not the most constructive approach to have taken.
