Masala restaurants penalised for employment law breaches

26 November 2014

Masala restaurants penalised for employment law breaches

A group of Auckland Masala restaurants have been ordered to pay $66,000 in penalties for failing to provide employment records to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Labour Inspectorate.

The Employment Relations Authority has determined 11 companies behind the restaurant chain are each to pay $6000 for not providing wage and time records, holiday and leave records and employment agreements for around 100 staff.

The Labour Inspectorate filed proceedings in the Employment Relations Authority in June and July 2013 after the companies operating as the Masala Group of Restaurants missed deadlines to provide the records.

Labour Inspectorate Northern Regional Manager David Milne says employment records are required to be kept by law and failure to comply with a labour inspector’s request for them is a breach of the Employment Relations Act 2000.

“Failure to maintain records is not some technical omission. If employers don’t keep required records it is almost certain that their employees are not getting their entitlements. The Labour Inspectorate treats these cases as such and will seek substantial penalties accordingly,” says Mr Milne.

In its determination the Employment Relations Authority noted that the Labour Inspectorate submitted a significant number of Masala employees are recent migrants to New Zealand and the Authority accepted that migrant workers are a particularly vulnerable section of the workforce.

The Labour Inspectorate encourages anyone in this situation or who knows of people in this situation to phone our call centre on 0800 20 90 20 where your concerns will be handled in a safe environment.

A copy of the ERA determination is here http://dol.govt.nz/workplace/determinations/PDF/2014/2014_NZERA_Auckland_479.pdf

ENDS

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