Dairy farmer refused pay, gets $33,500 after unfair dismissal

An experienced dairy farmer was refused pay and his family of six given days to leave their home after he raised concerns about his employment contract.

But he has been awarded nearly $33,500 after the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) found he suffered significant emotional and financial harm from his dismissal.

The sum included wages for 243 hours he worked but was not paid for.

Greig Purcell, a dairy farmer with more than 16 years’ experience, applied for a job as a full-time dairy manager at Brailsford farms in Tirau last year.

This included a salary of $42,000 for working an average of 40 hours a week, as well as accommodation for his partner and four young daughters.

Purcell was offered the job after an interview and told a full employment agreement and job description would be provided before he started.

But this did not happen and Purcell ended up working 60-hour weeks on the farm he described as being in a ‘‘poor condition’’.

He also said he often received his fortnightly pay late, which put a ‘‘great deal of pressure’’ on his family.

It was only months after he started working that Purcell finally received an employment agreement, which was quite different to what he had understood it would contain.

When Purcell refused to sign the contract, Brailsford said he could no longer work there, and shareholder Nei Pryor, also known as Naden Tamihere, dismissed him by text message.

Pryor’s text said: ‘‘Ok well we cant [sic] have u [sic] work for us then greig as thats [sic] our only contract sorry.’’

Minutes later he sent another asking him to vacate the house.

‘‘A formal letter will be sent out tomorrow with indtruction [sic] on when to vacate the house and everything greig’’. text

Brailsford gave Purcell and his family only four days to leave the house they had been provided.

Brailsford refused to pay Purcell his salary for the previous fortnight until they vacated the premises.

Pryor and Brailsford did not attend the investigation but provided a statement in reply denying any involvement in the employment of Purcell.

Purcell said after the dismissal he became stressed and worried about his family and where they were going to live.

The ERA said the employment agreement, despite not being signed, required Brailsford to give two weeks’ notice of termination in writing.

It said Purcell’s dismissal was ‘‘grossly unfair’’.

‘‘The impact on him emotionally and financially was significant,’’ the authority said.

It awarded Purcell $16,521 for lost wages and holiday pay, $15,000 for hurt and humiliation from his dismissal and about $1970 in court costs.