ERA decides university breached collective employment agreement
The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) has ordered the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) to desist from terminating the employment of over 100 employees.
The order follows a determination that the university breached its collective employment agreement (CEA) with the Tertiary Education Union (TEU) in a move to make 170 roles redundant.
"The Authority finds it is necessary and just that AUT should be asked to go back and follow the CEA correctly," said ERA member Alastair Dumbleton in his ruling.
The case stems from the announcement of the AUT in September that it is eyeing job cuts as part of a post-COVID recovery programme.
TEU files legal case
In response, the union lodged to the ERA a compliance order after it argued that the university breached Part 10 of its CEA, which involves organisational change and provides the option of severance of employment in surplus staff situations.
"In particular, TEU contends that AUT has, (i) not determined specific positions which it had identified as surplus and, (ii) not called for voluntary severance of the employees potentially affected (once specific positions have been identified)," the court document said.
The ERA agreed with the union in saying that "potentially affected staff are not the people selected for redundancy but are staff who hold positions that could be determined surplus."
The authority also agreed that AUT's call for voluntary severance was "not made as intended and required under Part 10," after the opportunity was offered even before selected positions were identified by the university as surplus.
"The Authority upholds the claim of TEU that the calls for voluntary severance were not made as intended and required under Part 10. There was a breach of the CEA by AUT in this regard," the ERA said.
The AUT has been ordered to scrap its plan to terminate the 170 employees it made redundant following the determination and, "in principle,” to identify specified positions before offering them the opportunity of severance.
