Max Whitehead: Employment Expert on the Immigration NZ staff dismissed for derogatory messages about applicants

An employment expert says there's a balance between free speech and unprofessionalism when dismissing staff for making inappropriate comments. 

16 Immigration NZ staff have been disciplined for derogatory messages about visa applicants on Teams. 

10 workers have been either dismissed or issued a formal warning already. 

Max Whitehead told Andrew Dickens employers need to be careful of free speech. 

He says people are entitled to say what they want to some extent, but an employer is likely to be reactive to comments. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Staff at Immigration New Zealand have been sacked or given
formal warnings for sending inappropriate messages about migrants their clients
to each other. So sixteen staff members at several branches
were disciplined inappropriately talking about visa applicants on team chats.
And you know team chats, it's a work software. We've
all used that. Employment expert Max Whitehead joins me now

(00:24):
to talk about this fell of Max.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Good morning, Andrew. There's a shocker.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
Is it a shocker? I mean hello, I mean everyone
is guilty about gossip being about our clients. These are
just clients that're talking about stuff they're helping. They're being collegial, Max.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Yes, but one, you're using an employer's tool to make
this disrespectful and could easily bring the employer into disrepute
and has because obviously these people now are in the media.
I mean Andrew Dickinson's talking about them right now.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
Yes, that's true. So hod On, they made a very
important point because it's because it's on teams that makes
it worse.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
It doesn't make it worse. And look, even if they
made a comment on their own social media like Facebook
or or any one of those TikTok or anything like
that at all, that brings the employer into disrepute. So
if they said something like this is the worst employer
anybody could have, I'm suffering here, that will bring that

(01:28):
will bring on discipline, reaction, and it could even be dismissal.
So the employer is required to have a policy before
they can enforce it. If it's not there's no policy,
they should at least give the person a warning first offense,
and then thereafter go after it. But employers need to
be aware that they also have to be careful of
free speech because people do have an entitlement to say

(01:50):
well what they like to some extent. But bringing someone
into disrepute that particularly your employer, the employer can be
reactive to it, and horrobably will.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
Of course, my social media is full of me criticizing everybody.
You know, so I'm in big trouble, I guess. But
people forget about reputational risk and reputational risks to companies
and reputational risks to individuals and your own brand.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
Correct and look more the higher ranking like look at you, you,
I'm in the highest ranking person in ZB. If you
made a comment, you would be in worse trouble than
perhaps someone lowly down down the line. If I was
just a normal employee who fronted up and did all
the leg work, that that would have a big, big
ramification for you. Now there's there's a couple of court

(02:35):
cases which are really interesting. One man had road rage
and actually ran over somebody, and that made headlines. And
of course, but everyone knew where this person worked. He
had a high profile, and so the employer dismissed him,
even though I had nothing to do with the workplace,
dismissed him for bringing into distribute. Another person on the

(02:57):
birthday cake put something like and I worked for the
worse bees in the world. You know, I can't say
the word, but certainly that person on social media and
thought it was funny and wow, gone finished.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
All right, Max, that's a very good warning. That is
Max Whitehead here is an employment law specialist with white
Head Consultants. And look here's something. Make some rules for
yourself if your employer, please make a rule for your
employees too, so you know, just in case they are
having a bit of a gossip, they realize that that's
the wrong thing. Don't just come out of the blue,
and remember termination is terminal.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
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