May 3rd

MEDIA RELEASE

Workers at Hato Paora College win sleepover case worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Eight E tū members at Hato Paora boarding school near Feilding have won a case in the Employment Relations Authority involving hundreds of thousands of dollars in back pay for unpaid sleepover duties.

The members worked as hostel parents at the college to ensure the safety and security of boys boarding at the school.

E tū established the principle of paying the minimum wage for hours spent during sleepovers following an Employment Court ruling in 2009 that sleepovers constituted work and should be paid for.

Hato Paora told the Authority that necessary interventions by the workers were minimal and they had plenty of time to sleep – which the Authority did not accept.

It found “…the applicants were engaged in work when rostered as House parents at Hato Paora and the Board is liable to pay them accordingly.”

The Authority did not determine a settlement for workers which will be negotiated between the College and E tū.

E tū organiser, Lyn Williams says: “The school board knew that there would be a sleepover claim, ever since the 2009 court decision and could have made provision for these workers but didn’t.

“We will now be working to negotiate a settlement.”

Lyn says the college introduced volunteers to do the sleepovers in July last year, but has since reinstated paid workers.

ENDS

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