Wage claims dismissed

Press, 10 February 1983, Page 11

Wage claims dismissed

Claims by the Canterbury Hotel, Hospital and Restaurant Workers Union that a former employee of the Sandwich Factory had been underpaid were dismissed by the Arbitration Court in Christchurch yesterday because of a lack of evidence.

The union had sought $1351 from Jane Marie Henderson for alleged wage arrears owing to Joy Marilyn Hammond who worked for the Sandwich Factory for 42 weeks in 1979.

The union secretary, Mr G. R. Harding, told the Court that Miss Hammond had not been paid the correct weekly wage, overtime rates, or allowances to which she had

been entitled. Miss Hammond said that she worked for more than 40 hours each week. She had calculated that she was being paid about $2.30 an hour or $7B in the hand a week. She said she did not receive any pay slips and did not fill in a time book while she worked for Mrs Henderson. There had been two Government wage orders while she worked for Mrs Henderson but Miss Hammond could remember receiving only one pay increase of about $3 or $4 a week. “I remember waiting for a wage rise but it didn’t seem to come,” she said.

Miss Hammond said she did not raise the question of pay rates with her employer because she was aware Mrs Henderson held Zenith Applied Philosophy beliefs and “wouldn’t want me question-, ing them.” She had not been aware that she had been entitled to uniform and laundry allowances. Counsel for Mrs Henderson, Mr D. Riley, submitted that no case of underpayment had been established. The amount mentioned by Miss Hammond had been “a bit vague” but would have been the award rate. Chief Judge J. R. P. Horn said it was not unnatural that Miss Hammond could not recall with certainty the amount she received. The Court was left with the feeling that there may have been an underpayment, but there was insufficient evidence, he said. With Chief Judge Horn on the bench were Messrs P. L. Oldham and J. A. Boomer.