MBIE acts against Queenstown breaches of employment laws

Enforcement action has been taken against 15 employers in the hospitality, retail and service industries following an operation in August by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).

The Ministry’s Labour Inspectorate and Immigration New Zealand visited 41 employers to check their compliance with employment and immigration laws.

Labour Inspectorate Southern Regional Manager, Steve Watson says MBIE issued 15 Improvement Notices, and 2 Enforceable Undertakings for a total of 64 minimum employment standard breaches. Formal investigations have also been launched into the employment activities of seven employers.

“The level of non-compliance identified during this operation was disappointing, especially employees who were not receiving minimum wage for the hours they worked. There were also a high number of employees not receiving their public or annual holiday entitlements.

“It was surprising that there are still employers who do not have written employment agreements and are failing to maintain records compliant with minimum standard legislation,” he says.

“The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment takes breaches of employment law seriously and is working proactively to crackdown on it through joint compliance operations targeting sectors and at risk workers across New Zealand.

“We will not hesitate to take action for breaches of employment law. Breaches will be subject to compliance action and potentially penalties too of up to $10,000 for individuals and $20,000 for companies. The Ministry encourages anyone in this situation, or who knows of anyone in this situation, to call its contact centre on 0800 20 90 20 where their concerns will be handled in a safe environment,” Steve Watson says.

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