Why is MBIE and the government allowing Restaurant Brands to cheat workers of their annual leave?

Unite Union is asking for Restaurant Brands to pay annual leave entitlements back further than they have agreed to do with the Ministry of Business Innovation and Enterprise.

Unite first wrote to Restaurant Brands asking them to take action on this in February 2015, over four years ago.

At the very least, the company should have gone back six years from that date even if the six-year limit that MBIE is allowing companies to limit their remediation payments to is accepted as legal.

Instead, they are only going back to May 2012, over three years worth of remediation less than they should be forced to.

Even if their records before that date are more difficult to access or process they could do an estimation of losses for workers based on the records they do have,

Other companies have paid staff back for the 15 years back to the holidays Act law change in 2003 that seems to have created the incentive for companies to simply ignore what was required by law which has led to massive underpayments for workers.

These companies have accepted a moral responsibility to go back further.

Why can't Restaurant Brands do the same?

The government needs to take over the remediation process from MBIE and ensure all workers are paid what they are owed, not just a limited payment from a few companies that have been audited.

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