Supplied Content
Employers, don’t get caught out!
It pays to comply with minimum employment standards.
Compliance by employers with minimum employment standards is a serious concern for the Labour Inspectorate.
Heavy penalties
Penalties for non-compliance can be up to $100,000 (for a company) and even more for financial gain, plus the risk of negative publicity and hiring bans.
Employers are being warned about the importance and consequences of meeting their minimum employment standards obligations.
The Labour Inspectorate is active in enforcing these obligations.
Ministry of Business, Immigration & Employment (MBIE) Labour Inspectorate National Manager Stu Lumsden said that breaches of employees’ rights will not be tolerated in New Zealand.
Employers who fail to meet their minimum legal obligations are warned that they are likely to be investigated and if breaches are found they will be followed up with enforcement action, he said.
Migrant employees exploited
“In the most serious cases the potential penalties, arrears orders and hiring bans could effectively lead to a non-compliant employer to go out of business. In the media, we regularly see serious cases of some migrant employees being exploited in their jobs, leading to issues such as unpaid wages and leave, and unfair dismissals. Unfortunately, we also regularly see some migrant employers exploiting staff who are often members of their own community,” Mr Lumsden said.
While most employers are fair there is clearly a need to keep strict compliance, including in migrant communities, he said.
Free Resources
The Employment New Zealand website provides a full range of free resources for both employees and employers.
Please visit www.employment.govt.nz and enter key words ‘minimum rights of employees.’
The resources include quick guides and publications in more than 10 translated languages.
“Current and future employers and employees will benefit from using the resources to identify and resolve issues early, before they become problems. In particular, an ongoing issue for businesses is keeping proper records,” Mr Lumsden said.
Penalties for non-compliance can be up to $100,000 (for a company) and even more for examples of an employer’s financial gain, plus the risk of negative publicity.
Serious breaches of the law are published in the news.
For information on record keeping, enter ‘Keeping accurate records.’
For details of non- compliant employers in the news, enter ‘News.’
Phone 0800-209020 toll-free.
A free interpreting service is available.
Photo Caption: Stu Lumsden
