ERA says employer could have done more to formally understand employee's situation
A former Noel Leeming employee has been awarded more than $30,000 after the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) took his side when he left the organisation due to burnout.
Stephen Perry was hired as a salesman in 2019 by the Noel Leeming Group, where he was tasked of selling the company's products and services to education institutes and others in the Waikato region.
His employment ended in October 2021 after he left the organisation, but he claims in the ERA that he was constructively dismissed. According to Perry, there were several unjustified disadvantage grievances that led to him suffering from burnout around June 2021.
Start of stress-related symptoms
The employee told the ERA his stress-related symptoms first manifested following a conflict over his sales targets.
His budgets were incorrect for around the first three months of his employment, the ERA established, which led to Perry losing commissions and making his job less secure during the probationary period.
Perry also later requested a review on his sales targets in the latter part of 2020, claiming they were set very high. A correction was eventually made, but the employee cited his attempts to reach the high sales targets also affected his mental health.
By January 2021, Perry once again called for a review on his sales targets, saying they were incorrect and were "set too low."
Impact of merging on employment
Perry also detailed the impact of the company's merging with The Warehouse Group to his employment, despite previous assurance that he would not be affected.
The employee, despite not being formally affected, said he was still significantly impacted after he lost after-sales support and saw his administrative tasks go up, a matter he raised in his 2020 performance review.
Perry also called out the change in his business card, uniform, and email address to The Warehouse Group instead of Noel Leeming after the merging.
According to Perry, he did not consent to the changes, which he claimed were made without consultation.
By April 2021, Perry said he began experiencing "severe medical symptoms related to stress," citing the lack of sales support from the earlier restructure.
"The roles were not replaced, and he was left to do tasks previously undertaken by others, on his own. He says this exacerbated his health issues," the ERA said in the court document.
Raising the matter with employer
Perry raised the matter to his employer in July 2021, where he told a development manager for The Warehouse Group, Benjamin Halling, that he was "broken by the workload."
Halling told the ERA that Perry had tears in his eyes during the meeting and at one point even banged his fists at the table. But he told the authority that he couldn't recall Perry telling him what had been stressing him.
According to Halling, Perry's workload was not more than any other employee, adding that he was even well-positioned to achieve his existing targets without the need for long working hours.
Halling also defended at the ERA that after-sales support remained available despite Perry's claim, adding that the employee was "unreasonably upset" over the changes that occurred during the company's merging with The Warehouse Group.
ERA decision on employee resignation
But the ERA ruled in favour of Perry, despite recognising that the employer took steps to alleviate the pressure off the employee.
"However, the Authority considers a fair and reasonable employer with [The Warehouse Limited's] resources would have taken more formal and proactive steps to understand Perry's mental health situation at the time," the ERA said in its ruling.
The ERA also said the employer in the case acted in a timely manner in responding to Perry's resignation, despite the employee claiming they were being disingenuous.
"However, these communications came after a number of months of inadequate action on [The Warehouse Group's] part," the ERA said.
As a result, the ERA ordered The Warehouse Limited to pay Perry three months of lost wages amounting to $7,136.89 per month, $25,000 for the hurt and humiliation suffered by the employees, as well as five days of lifestyle leave that Perry had paid for earlier and used during his period of burnout.
