When Mr B realised this he informed the Rotorua Branch Manager of this and a meeting was arranged to discuss Mr B's ability to perform his job. Following this meeting Mr B was notified of his dismissal.
The ANZ has a Code of Conduct requires that an employee driving an ANZ branded vehicle must have a current New Zealand driver's licence. Further the Code of Conduct states that “ In all my actions I shall be law abiding ” and “ I shall report knowledge of any breaches to my supervisor or Line Manager or to my Business Unit Compliance Manager ”.
Mr B took a claim to the Employment Relations Authority alleging that he had been unjustifiably dismissed. He claimed that his breach of the Code of Conduct was not sufficiently serious to warrant his dismissal.
The Authority member determined that the decision by ANZ to dismiss Mr B was one that a fair and reasonable employer would have taken. ANZ were faced with an employee who was in the habit of speeding in an ANZ branded car and had received three Infringement Notices during his five-month employment with the ANZ. The fact that Mr B did not report his two previous infringements (as required by the Code of Conduct) was a further factor that counted against him.
If an employer follows the correct procedure and the decision to dismiss is one that a fair and reasonable employer would have taken then a personal grievance claim for unjustified dismissal should fail.
