Long‑serving chef discovers Facebook ad seeking a 'long‑term chef' at her workplace while overseas, sparking an ERA claim.
A long-serving chef of a hospitality employer who found that she lost her job through a recruitment post on Facebook has been declared unjustifiably dismissed by the Employment Relations Authority (ERA).
The ERA noted that the chef, who had worked at the restaurant for about 14 years in total and for the current employer since 2022, was treated as a seasonal, fixed‑term employee whose work ended each winter.
The employer initially defended the claim on the basis that the chef was employed on a fixed‑term agreement and that her employment ended by mutual agreement in May 2024 when she was told the business was being marketed for sale.
But the ERA rejected that position, recording that the fixed‑term agreements were never signed and did not comply with the Employment Relations Act 2000. The employer ultimately "accepted [the employee] must be treated as a permanent employee."
"In short, the evidence does not support the position there was mutual agreement [the employee's] employment would come to an end in May 2024 at the start of the seasonal close down," the determination said, finding that the chef "could reasonably have an expectation of ongoing employment after the winter shut down" given the established work pattern.
While overseas during the 2024 winter closure, the chef had not been clearly told that her...
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