Employer penalised for requiring employees to refund their wages…

The Employment Relations Authority has imposed a penalty of $3,000 on an employer for demanding an employee pay it back, in cash, a significant portion of her wages on an ongoing basis to keep her job. 

This meant that the employer was in breach of the Wages Protection Act which provides that an employer cannot stipulate how an employee spends their wages.

The employer was also penalised $2,000 for failing to have employment agreements and not keeping proper wage and time records.

 

Alan Knowsley