Cocopelli restaurant unjustifiably dismissed a waitress after claiming she needed to smile more, the Employment Relations Authority has found.

A teenage waitress fired for failing to smile enough has been awarded more than $11,000 compensation.

Christchurch pizza restaurant and bar Cocopelli unjustifiably dismissed Jacinta Highley from her job as a duty manager and waitress in January 2014, the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) has found.

The restaurant manager came up with the code word "miley" for staff to say to Highley to remind her to smile. Highley said this made her upset and nervous as "staff would say this to her even when she felt she was smiling", the ERA finding said.

Highley, 19, began working at the restaurant, at The Palms Shopping Centre in Shirley, in October 2013.

During her third month in the job as a duty manager and waitress, the restaurant's general manager and part owner, Jeanette Francis, told her she needed to smile more.

Francis came up with the code word, then suggested changing it to the name of Highley's partner, as Highley seemed to smile when she spoke about him.

Francis told the ERA she had a meeting with Highley on December 12, 2013, to tell her she was still not smiling enough.

Highley took the issue seriously because being happy and engaging with customers was essential for a hospitality business, Francis said.

They met again on January 23, 2014, when told her she still needed to smile more or her employment could be in jeopardy.

She claimed there had been several complaints and comments from customers describing Highley as "unhappy, bland, lacking personality, looking miserable and seeming to hate her job".

Francis met again with Highley three days later and told her she still needed to improve or she would not make it past her trial period, which was due to end the following day.

Highley said she was very upset and cried for a long time as she was disappointed she was not improving as she thought she was.

She was dismissed on January 28, 2014, and told it was because she did not smile and had not improved within the time she was given.

Highley told the ERA no other issues about her performance were raised, and Francis did not dispute that she did not mention any other issues.

Highley said she experienced depression because of the situation, and found it hard to trust anyone again.

In a written decision, ERA member David Appleton? said Highley was a "perfectly presentable, articulate, intelligent, polite and pleasant person" and was doing well in her new job, which did not involve hospitality.

"However, I accept that, on balance, Ms Highley did not have the particular skill set required by the respondent," he said.

He ruled Highley was unjustifiably dismissed by the restaurant as her dismissal happened outside of the 90-day trial period.

"If the respondent still regarded her performance as being unacceptable, it needed to advise her of that and to have given her a chance to make representations in accordance with her contractual and statutory rights. Instead, Ms Highley was ambushed," Appleton said.

"This ambush is not the action that any fair and reasonable employer." could have taken in all the circumstances. The procedural flaws were not minor, and they did result in Ms Highley being treated unfairly."

He ordered Cocopelli to pay Highley $11,250 in compensation and more than $3600 in lost and unpaid wages and holiday pay.

Highley declined to comment.

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