Workers fight for unpaid inn wages

AGGRIEVED: Shannon McKenna, 21, left, and sister Hayley McKenna, 23, of Eketahuna, outside Work and Income in Masterton. PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

A claim for $23,000 in unpaid wages was lodged overnight by 14 former Eketahuna Inn employees to the Wellington Employment Relations Authority.

The former employees, who are represented by Masterton-based lawyer Jills Angus-Burney, said they have not been paid a wage since commencing their employment with Eketahuna Inn's director Laura Aldworth several weeks ago, with some forced to live off foodbank supplies to get by.

Mrs Aldworth is believed to have left the district after police were called to the Eketahuna Inn last Tuesday to calm a dispute between her and contractors and staff who claimed to have been unpaid.

Hayley McKenna, who worked for Mrs Aldworth for 11 weeks, said she was owed just under $6000, and that the actions of her former employer were "quite questionable".

"We were getting drip-fed bits and pieces, but nothing to live on," she said. "I brought it up with Laura a couple of times and she would just get angry and I would be sent home without pay for the rest of the day."

Miss McKenna and her sister, Shannon, both worked for Mrs Aldworth and are now living with their mother who has "cashed in her holiday pay just to get [them] by".

"We just want to make sure Laura can't do this to anyone else again," Miss McKenna said. "Most of us have had to go back to Work and Income, and me and my sister won't get an appointment until next week."

Miss McKenna said the employees were considering creating a Givealittle page to cover legal fees.