ERA rules that FENZ's broken promise left employee disadvantaged at work
A ruined friendship sparked by a dispute over superannuation eligibility has led to a finding that Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) unjustifiably disadvantaged one of its senior advisors, the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) has ruled.
The ERA upheld one of three personal grievances brought by the senior advisor and ordered FENZ to pay $13,000 in compensation for humiliation, loss of dignity, and injury to feelings. Other grievances, including a claim of constructive dismissal, were rejected.
The advisor, a long-serving firefighter who later returned to FENZ as an Advisor Community Readiness and Recovery, believed he had been accepted into the New Zealand Fire Service Superannuation Scheme (FireSuper) in 2022 after payroll told him his application had been "actioned" and that he would see FireSuper contributions from his next pay.
Broken promise
However, he was never enrolled and remained in KiwiSaver. In January 2024, after discussing superannuation with a close colleague and friend in a similar role, he discovered he was not in FireSuper, while the colleague was.
When he queried the situation, the advisor told FENZ that a comparable returning employee had been allowed into FireSuper and said this had "set a precedent."
A Senior People Advisor asked for the colleague's name, saying it could be used "as a case" for him.
"I will not use that person's name as a way to get him or her removed from NZ FireSuper. If you are worried that revealing their name may put that at risk, I can say it won't," the employee added in a follow-up email.
The advisor disclosed the colleague's identity after the written reassurance.
But then FENZ referred the matter to payroll, which discovered the colleague was also ineligible under the FireSuper trust deed. The colleague was removed from FireSuper and shifted into KiwiSaver.
The colleague blamed the advisor for the loss of the superior scheme, and their long-standing friendship and working relationship deteriorated.
The advisor told the Authority he felt embarrassed, isolated, and seen as untrustworthy, describing himself as feeling like an "outcast."
He was seconded to another team to avoid daily interaction, took extended sick leave after an attempted return to his substantive role, and ultimately resigned in November 2024 before bringing the case to the ERA.
The advisor alleged that FENZ had unjustifiably disadvantaged him by failing to enrol him in FireSuper in 2022, unjustifiably disadvantaged him by breaking its promise over his colleague's FireSuper membership, and constructively dismissed him through a series of breaches and inadequate support.
ERA's ruling
The ERA held that the 2022 non‑enrolment grievance was out of time because it was raised 112 days after he discovered the problem, outside the 90‑day statutory limit.
It also rejected the constructive dismissal claim, finding that FireSuper eligibility was governed by the trust deed and that FENZ had taken reasonable steps to support the advisor through welfare services, a proposed restorative process, a secondment, and discussions about his return to work.
However, the Authority found that the broken promise over the colleague's identity was an unjustified action that caused a disadvantage to the advisor's employment by damaging a key relationship and causing significant emotional harm.
"[The advisor's] employment was disadvantaged because of FENZ's failure to keep its promise; his working relationship with a senior colleague was damaged to an extent that made day-to-day work difficult for him," the ERA ruled.
For that, he was awarded $13,000. No lost remuneration was ordered, and costs were reserved.
