Question
I am an employer and have recently received a personal grievance letter from a former employee who claims that I constructively dismissed her.
The employee is claiming lost wages plus $50,000 compensation for "distress, humiliation, loss of dignity and injury to his feelings". Do employees get awarded that much money?
Answer
The Employment Institutions Information Centre have published a table setting out the compensation awards made by the Employment Tribunal and
Court for the period 1 January 1997 to 31 December 1997. The table shows that 93% of compensation awards are under $11000 and that only one person was awarded $50,000 last year.
On a purely statistical basis, it is highly unlikely that your former employee will be awarded anything near $50,000. A
copy of the compensation table can be obtained from the Employment Institutions Information Centre Ph (04) 473-9804. They cost $11.25 each. | 
