Worker Fired For Declining a Face Scan Awarded $23,200

Iwastheone shares a report from Stuff.co.nz: Christchurch electrician Tim Fensom has been awarded $23,200 after he was fired for refusing to use a face scanning system. Fensom worked for construction company KME Services for eight months as a lead electrician during the construction of Christchurch's new hospital before he was fired on October 30, 2018, the Employment Relations Authority said in its determination. KME managing director Tim Lane replaced the company's paper-based timesheets with a biometric system that scanned workers' faces when they arrived and left the hospital construction site after two other subcontracting companies started using it. When Fensom raised concerns, he was told to use the system or receive a warning for breaching KME's health and safety policy. [...] Fensom was on a two week holiday while the system was being rolled out. When he returned on October 29, Fensom declined to use the face scanner, and instead signed in on a paper timesheet and carried on with his day. That day Fensom was given a formal warning letter for not following KME's health and safety policies. The next day when he refused again, Fensom was fired for serious misconduct. The ERA said KME failed to consult its employees about alternatives to paper-based timesheets before switching to the face-scanning software. KME was ordered to pay Fensom $12,000 as compensation for humiliation and injury to feelings and $11,286 in lost wages.

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