Penalty for no employment agreement…

The Employment Relations Authority has penalised an employer that failed to pay wages and holiday pay and also failed to provide a written employment agreement.

The employee was a part-time worker doing a few hours a week after school and then in between university classes.  The employer failed to provide any written employment agreement to the employee.  When the employee resigned to go to another position the employer failed to pay wages due and holiday pay of $640.

As well as being ordered to pay the $640 wages and holiday pay the employer was fined $2,500 for its breaches of the Employment Relations Act.  All employees must be given a copy of a written and signed employment agreement and wages and holiday pay due must be paid on time.  Of the $2,500 penalty $833 was ordered to be paid to the employee and the rest going to the Crown.

The penalty in this case was almost four times the unpaid wages so it would have made sense for the employer to have just paid the employee and provided a written employment agreement.

Alan Knowsley

Employment Lawyer Wellington