Excess Overtime and Slacking Off

An interesting case is in the news this morning. A Southland woman took her case to the Employment Relations Authority claiming that she had to work too much overtime. She lost because the employer was able to show that the employee had emailed friends from work saying she had done "bugger all work all day" and was "just f...ing around" because her boss was away. 

The employee had an employment agreement that required her to work any additional hours for no extra pay. Many salaried employees have that kind of clause in their agreements, but this doesn’t mean that they can be required to work unreasonable overtime (even though this is what the clause implies). If the overtime is too much, too regular, or making the employee stressed or unwell, then this must be addressed by the employer. Requiring too much overtime may mean that the employee has good grounds for an exit negotiation, or to renegotiate their work arrangements with their current employer, or a good personal grievance claim.

To get to the Employment Relations Authority, the Southland woman would probably have had to go through mediation and other negotiations first. The lessons from the case? Don’t keep on going and going with a weak case, and make sure your facts stack up. Oh – and be careful what you say in work emails.

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/work-emails-expose-slacking-attitude-4903849?