Kiwifruit contractor fined for no contracts

A Bay of Plenty Kiwifruit contractor has been penalised by the Employment Relations Authority for failing to provide two employees with written individual employment agreements and presenting fraudulent documents.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's Labour Inspectorate brought the case before the Authority against Bay Enterprises Ltd after identifying repeated breaches of Section 65 of the Employment Relations Act 2000 which requires employers to provide all employees with a written individual employment agreement.

The Authority determined $5000 is to be paid as a penalty for breaching the Employment Relations Act and stated that the fraudulent behaviour had been "taken into consideration when setting the level of the penalty."

Labour Inspectorate Regional Manager Natalie Gardiner said employers were required by law to provide written individual employment agreements to all employees.

"This is a basic legal obligation and enables employers to show they are providing their workers with their minimum employment entitlements," said Mrs Gardiner.

"The Labour Inspectorate will not hesitate to take enforcement action against employers that breach minimum employment standards like this or attempt to mislead the Inspectorate by producing false records."

During an audit in May 2014, the Labour Inspectorate issued Bay Enterprises Ltd with an improvement notice for failing to provide agreements to employees. A further audit in July 2014 identified subsequent failure to provide employment agreements. In addition, the employer presented fraudulent agreements as evidence when the case went before the Authority.

The ERA determination is available here: www.dol.govt.nz.

The Ministry encourages anyone in this situation, or those who know of anyone in this situation, to call its contact centre on 0800 20 90 20 where their concerns will be handled in a safe environment.