Dairy, Owners Must Pay $16,000 In Penalties For Employment Breaches

A Piopio dairy and its owners must pay $16,000 in penalties after the Employment Relations Authority found them liable for 21 individual breaches of minimum employment standards which impacted migrants working at the business.

Authority Member Eleanor Robinson ruled that the company operating the dairy, A W & B L Mudaliar Limited, trading as Piopio Superette, must pay a penalty of $10,000 while the directors, husband and wife Avinesh and Bidya Mudaliar, were ordered to pay penalties of $3,000 each for the breaches.

The company must also pay $1,443.23 in outstanding arrears for holiday pay. The initial arrears totalled $5,651.57, but $4,208 has since been repaid to the affected employees.

The company was also ordered to pay interest on the outstanding arrears.

Among the breaches found were:

• Failing to pay annual holiday entitlements to four employees when they stopped working for the business.
• Failing to include mandatory information in the employment agreements of three employees.
• Unlawful deductions from the wages of employees.
• Stipulating how the workers could spend their wages.
• Including an illegal clause in the employment agreement of one employee.
• Failing to keep accurate holiday and leave records for six workers.

At the hearing, Mr Mudaliar told the Authority that people on visas frequently worked at the superette and being immigrants themselves, they were happy to help employees with their applications for visas and other qualifications.

In her determination, Ms Robinson said the employees were all migrant workers which increased their vulnerability. “However, I have not found an exploitative element and the employers were cooperative with the Labour Inspector’s investigation.”

She recommended that Mr and Mrs Mudaliar work with a Labour Inspector to ensure that their work practices and all their manually maintained records accurately conform to the statutorily required standards.

Katriona Ikenasio, Retail Sector Lead for the Labour Inspectorate, said while the employers in this case were co-operative and it had been found there had been no intent to exploit the workers, the outcome provided a valuable lesson for employers in New Zealand.

“Employers cannot afford to cut corners when it comes to adhering to this country’s employment law. These laws have been put in place to protect both employers and employees, so it is important business owners and managers understand their responsibilities in this regard.”

She said when breaches are detected enforcement action is taken. “However, where breaches are minimal and unintentional, the Inspectorate prefers to work with employers and employees to educate or resolve a complaint.”

MBIE encourages anyone who thinks they or someone else has been treated unfairly in the workplace to contact our 0800 20 90 20 contact centre number where their concerns will be handled in a safe environment.

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