Wilkinson Kate: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Wilkinson Kate: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Volume:642;Page:12354] 
12.  
KATE WILKINSON (National) 
 to the  
Minister of Labour 
: Does she have confidence in the Employment Relations Authority; if so why? 
Hon RUTH DYSON (Minister of Labour) 
: 
 Yes I do. The Employment Relations Authority receives over 2000 applications a year one-third of which are determined by the authority. Very few cases from the authority progress to the Employment Court. 
Kate Wilkinson 
: Why should employers have confidence in the Employment Relations Authority when the authority is willing to order the payment of more than $8000 to a restaurant manager who was fired after he failed to turn up to work turned up drunk on another occasion and had to be sent home on another occasion verbally abused staff and caused the business to lose custom and lied on his CV? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: As the member should be aware given her previous profession it is not my role to comment on the determinations of an independent judiciary body. 
Kate Wilkinson 
: Does she think that employment law should protect abusive truant and drunk employees from being dismissed and punish employers who try to dismiss them? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: As the member should know from her previous profession it is not appropriate for me as Minister to comment on individual determinations of the authority. 
Darien Fenton 
: Has the Minister seen any figures on how many employment relationship problems have been solved in mediation thus negating the need to escalate them to the Employment Relations Authority? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: Actually I have: 9000 applications are made to access the department’s mediation services every year and of those about 80 percent end in a settlement. 
Peter Brown 
: In a general sense is it not true that when the disputes resolution system under the Employment Relations Authority came into being it acted more speedily with fewer financial resources and less hassle and stress on the individuals involved than the system that operated under the Employment Contracts Act; if it was true then is it still the case now? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: The answer to that question is in the main yes. It certainly was true at the beginning. There have been some delays in determinations being issued as the member who asked the primary question has ascertained through her questions. That situation has certainly been resolved as I have been advised. 
Kate Wilkinson 
: Will she admit that it is procedurally difficult to dismiss an underperforming employee given that in this case there was an agreed trial period there was monitoring and mentoring for 2 months and there were at least 12 different performance incidents yet the employer still lost; if not why not? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: No. As the two research proposals that have been made public have indicated this is not borne out by the facts. 
Kate Wilkinson 
: Why in light of these types of decisions should employers bother to gamble by going before the Employment Relations Authority when they could settle for an average of $5000 to give them some certainty? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: It is actually up to the employer which avenue he or she wishes to pursue to settle any grievance. The research has shown that access to our mediation services and formal dispute resolution processes is not expensive and that they have very satisfactory outcomes for parties.