A teenage bar worker has been awarded almost $14,000 in compensation after being unfairly sacked for pocketing $12 in unclaimed winnings from gaming machines.
The Employment Relations Authority has awarded the money to Jamie Hammond, who was 18 at the time, after finding she had been incorrectly trained at the Grosvenor Hotel in Timaru.
Legally, unclaimed winnings must be placed in the Pub Charity's bank account.
But Ms Hammond was trained by a former staff member to treat that money as a tip to be shared.
In December 2011, the bar's general manager discovered that Ms Hammond had tried to split $24 with a co-worker and fired her.
The authority said had the manager investigated the case sufficiently, she would have realised it was a misunderstanding.
It awarded Ms Hammond about $6200 in lost wages and $7500 compensation for the humiliation suffered.
