Job not secure

A security guard who was fired, after one of his boss’ clients purposely left a door unlocked to see if he was doing his job properly, has failed to convince authorities he was unfairly let go. Even if that guard had been successful, he was unlikely to get a decent compensation payout due to his contribution to the situation, the Employment Relations Authority ruled. Craig Hines took Marton company TK Security to the authority, saying he had been unfairly fired. But authority member Michele Ryan ruled against him. Hines worked for the company from 2014 until June 2017, often doing inspections and alarm responses at night. The catalyst for his dismissal was a complaint from Tony Ward, the director of Ward Furniture, a client of TK Security. He said a roller door on Ward Furniture was found unlocked before the business opened in the morning. It was found like that again on a later date. Ward started leaving the roller door unlocked and monitoring if it was checked properly. It was locked up by whoever was on security from Tuesday to Saturday, but remained unlocked on Sundays and Mondays. Ward complained to TK Security owner Gordon Shadbolt, saying the guard leaving the gate open was not to return to Ward Furniture. Closed-circuit television footage showed Hines entering the shop from a side area, and glancing at the roller door from about 2 metres away. When confronted, Hines said his door check was in line with how he had been trained. Shadbolt told Hines Ward had lost confidence in TK Security’s services, which meant TK Security had lost confidence in Hines. Shadbolt denied Hines had been trained to check doors that way, and informed him he was being fired. Ryan said there were differences of opinion about how Hines was trained, but he was at least told to perform a ‘‘close examination’’ of locks. Ryan said TK Security was within its rights to find Hines’ actions a breach of his employment obligations, and to lose its trust in him. There was also nothing untowards in the way TK Security fired him. The potential of being fired was made clear from the start of the disciplinary process, and discussed throughout, Ryan said. ‘‘Finally, Mr Hines’ contribution to the situation that led to his dismissal was significant,’’ she said.