A Christchurch accountant fired three days into his new job in a flawed 90-day trial dismissal has been awarded $16,500 by the Employment Relations Authority.
Yi (Robin) Zhou was hired as an accountant by infant formula-maker Best Health Foods on January 20, 2020, but was fired three days later, via email.
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Best Health Foods’ co-director James Gu said the 90-day trial period clause was not in the employment agreement due to clerical error, and Zhou’s employment was actually terminated under a different clause relating to serious and persistent breach of the agreement.
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However, the authority found this was a mistake that took little time to edit, and was not corrected until more than a month after Zhou left the company.
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However, Gu also did not raise these concerns with his co-director and majority shareholder, Yali Li.
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Last year Best Health Foods was ordered by the authority to pay another employee it fired three days after joining the company via an invalid 90-day trial.
