Ex-Bauer magazine staff could sue German company after publisher folds, legal experts say

Friday, 3 April 2020

New Zealand staff laid off from magazine publisher Bauer may have grounds to raise personal grievance cases, or pursue the parent company overseas, employment law experts say.

Bauer Media NZ printed titles including the Listener, Woman's Day, New Zealand Woman's Weekly, North and South and Air New Zealand magazine Kia Ora.

Bauer Media will close all its titles, blaming the economic impact of the coronavirus.

Bauer, like many other media companies, faced economic challenges before the pandemic. And it promised staff laid off would receive 'full redundancy and leave entitlements'.

But the speed with which titles were dumped on Thursday shocked some observers, and prompted the company and Government to trade blame.

* Coronavirus: Why the Government must take some blame for Bauer Media's closure

* Restrictions on previously 'non-essential' media eased just a fraction**

Paul Tolich from trade union E tū said staff were given 'half an hour's' notice before company bosses announced the business was folding.

'This is one of the worst processes I've seen for a long time… It's a shocker.'

Bauer employed many freelancers and contractors. Tolich said only a small minority of staff were unionised.

Those not unionised might have to pursue claims through the High Court, which would be expensive, but not impossible, he said.

Tolich said the union, which represented New Zealand journalists including some Stuff employees, would seek remedies, through local employment tribunals, or internationally through the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

Multibillionaire Yvonne Bauer runs Bauer's German parent company.

Stuff was told some Bauer staff believed bosses in Europe instructed Australasian executives not to seek exemptions to print magazines through the coronavirus Level 4 lockdown.

But Bauer rejected that.

Employment law advocate Danny Gelb says laid-off Bauer staff may well have a case to pursue personal grievance action.

'Bauer New Zealand, both individually and through its membership of the Magazine Publishers Association, has been actively involved in lobbying the Ministry for Culture and Heritage to re-classify magazine publishing as an essential service under the Covid-19 Level 4 restrictions,' a Bauer spokesman said.

'Unfortunately, these efforts were not successful.'

Bauer refused to comment on any potential legal action.

Wellington-based employment laywer Michael Quigg said employers seeking to lay off staff still had to consult employees, and give opportunities for feedback.

Bauer Media NZ published content including the investigative journalism featured in North & South magazine.

Generally, staff made redundant could consider claims of unjustified dismissal or unjustified disadvantage, Quigg said.

In Bauer's case, he said a logical course may be to pursue unjustified dismissal claims.

A spokesman for Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi said Bauer did not approach the Government for assistance before closing its operation, but later clarified he was not disputing that an offer to sell the business to the Government was made.

Quigg said employment law required bosses to behave in ways consistent with how 'a fair and reasonable employer' would act.

A source told Stuff the Listener and Woman's Day had enough subscribers to be sustainable even with a massive advertising downturn.

It's understood the company had the ability to print titles in lockdown with the vast majority of staff and contributors working remotely.

Employment advocate Danny Gelb said Bauer's failure to seek the government wage subsidy raised serious questions about how staff were laid off.

Former editor of The Listener, Finlay Macdonald, said Covid-19 could be 'the tipping point where a lot of print realises the game is up'.

He said workers appeared to have grounds to take up personal grievance cases, although getting money from Bauer Media Group may prove as hard as 'getting blood from a stone'.

Gelb, an Auckland-based advocate, said he fielded 62 calls yesterday from people wanting employment relations advice.

Many were employers asking how how to make workers redundant.

The situation was unprecedented, and with no case law about lockdowns, 'no-one knows what's legal and what's not,' Gelb added.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson on Friday urged companies against 'rash' decisions.

'Hold on to your people. Given them the wage subsidy if you need to,' he told a press conference.

'Employment law stands and we must all abide by it.'

Calls to Bauer's Auckland offices on Friday were met with an automated greeting saying offices were 'temporarily closed' and subscribers should contact magshop.co.nz.

In 2012, Bauer bought magazine publisher Australian Consolidated Press from Nine Entertainment (current Stuff owner) for a reported A$500 million (NZ$643m).