Thais did not come under wage law

The Labour Department says there is no basis for inquiring into allegations that Taito Phillip Field breached the Minimum Wage Act with payments made to Thais who painted his houses.

The department says this is because the painters were in a contracting relationship, not an employment one, and were therefore not covered by the Act.

National MP Wayne Mapp lodged an official complaint with the department about Mr Field last month, after the release of the report by Noel Ingram QC into the MP's relationship with a group of Thai people he had given immigration assistance to.

Some in the group also worked on his houses in Samoa and New Zealand.

Dr Ingram found in two cases that Phongphat Chaikunpol, for whom Mr Field secured permanent residence in 2004, was significantly underpaid for two painting jobs he appeared to have done out of gratitude. He appeared to have been underpaid in another instance, the report said.

The report said another man, Sunan Siriwan, for whom Mr Field tried to secure a New Zealand work visa, worked on Mr Field's house in Samoa, but Dr Ingram was unable to finally determine whether he was properly paid.

Dr Mapp said Mr Field took no steps to ensure Mr Siriwan was formally paid for his work.

The report raised "a proper question for the Department of Labour to consider, and that is whether or not an employment relationship existed and whether or not the Minimum Wage Act was complied with."

There were also questions about whether the Employment Relations Act was complied with, including the requirement for written contracts.

Department chief executive James Buwalda said yesterday it appeared work performed on the houses involved contractors and sub-contractors, and was therefore not an employment relationship. Contractors fell outside the Minimum Wage Act.

In addition, while Dr Ingram talked about "underpayments" he was talking in terms of a market rate comparison for the jobs, not wage rates.

The "underpayments" referred to in the report were not representative of a payment made under what was agreed, but rather less than would be expected of a prudent contractor, Dr Buwalda said.

None of the workers had asked for an investigation and it was not the department's intention, "but we remain ready to receive any evidence or complaint that might suggest we should reconsider that view."