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My daughter has been issued a notification through a letter by her Senior Area Manager to attend a meeting with her manager and himself to review her performance as outlined below. "Behaviour and language unbecoming a *store Manager/team member. Inappropriate dress code on the shop floor. Repeated situations occurred and noted regarding this matter. This is a performance meeting where disciplinary actions may be taken. " She has been encouraged to bring a support person along for the meeting which I intend to attend. She has never been issued any letters of warning before this and she tells me the breach in the dress code had to do with the dark shade that she was wearing instead of the black that is supposed to be the dress code. (No uniform or subsistence is provided to ensure she has adequate numbers of the required clothes.) As for the behaviour and language, she recalls having had an altercation with the Senior Area Manager who she says has a sever attitudinal problem. I am unfamiliar with the NZ labour laws. Any assistance will be of help. Thank You, XXXXX XXXXX
Already Tried: Nothing. This letter was given to her yesterday and she just showed it to me.
Hi Welcome to JustAnswer. My first response will follow shortly. Please feel free to follow up if anything is not clear
I am glad she has a supporting person, because this seems an excessive complaint by the employer. The alleged previous issues do not appear to have been put to her before, and it is unfair to raise those in support of the present disciplinary meeting. If there were other occasions when there was poor behaviour and this was an issue this should have been put to her and discussed at the time. They cannot dismiss her for trivial issues like the colour of clothing issue, and if they tried to do so, then this would be a matter where she could claim an employment personal grievance in the Employment Relations Authority.
The primary protection is that there must be fair treatment, and an opportunity to answer all the allegations.
If this is a disciplinary meeting, as it seems it is, and that we are able to establish that no prior warnings were issued nor warning letters issued, can this meeting be brought to a halt as procedures and fair processes were not followed? This meeting seems to be more like an ambush?
You should listen to what they say, and if you feel it is turning into an ambush, you should say to them that the procedure is wrong, and that if they take any steps to take this further, then she will claim a personal grievance based on poor/unfair procedure. And then say that this is unfair and that the next steps to get this right are up to them, but she declines to take part in the procedure, and leave
Experience: LLB MMgt FAMINZ 32 years qualified as lawyer