Finance company ordered to pay workers $100,000

A Christchurch finance company has been ordered to pay two former workers almost $100,000 after the Employment Relations Authority found they hadn't been paid for months.

The authority released its decision today.

Steve Baker and Vivecca Robinson had lodged personal grievances alleging unjustifiable constructive dismissal and sought compensation and lost wages from Henderson Advisory Services.

Both workers had emigrated from the United Kingdom and had worked at the company as financial planners.

Henderson Advisory Services did not accept the personal grievance claims but readily accepted it owed the workers unpaid wages and other payments, the ERA said.

The authority noted the company, which was established in 2002, had sustained "huge losses" from 2008 to 2010 - of about $600,000.

However, it found the workers had been constructively dismissed as the company had stopped paying them.

The company had stopped paying the workers for several months in 2009 including October and November and parts of December.

It was "not just foreseeable but inevitable" that Mr Baker and Ms Robinson would resign as a result of not being paid, ERA said.

It also found Henderson Advisory Services had failed to maintain the two workers' professional indemnity insurance.

Both workers also spoke of their suffering and distress which resulted from their personal grievances.

The ERA awarded the workers a total of about $97,000, which included lost wages, holiday pay, commission fees, Kiwisaver payments and compensation.

It agreed the company could stagger the payments but said it would have to pay a penalty of $5000 to each worker if it defaulted.

- NZPA