Dunedin pair to pay $11,500 for breaching employment law

Employers of South Dunedin Curry House were found to have failed to keep accurate wage, time and leave records. Photo / 123RF

Two Dunedin restaurant employers have been ordered to pay $11,500 by the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) for breaching employment law.

Hai Ung and Vuochhuor Ung, who operate the South Dunedin Curry House, were penalised for failing to keep accurate wage, time and leave records, following a Labour Inspectorate investigation.

The pair has also been placed on the employer Stand Down list for 18 months, preventing them from hiring migrant workers during that time.

Jeanie Borsboom, Labour Inspectorate regional manager, said this should send as a message to employers that it is their responsibility to keep accurate staff records.

"The responsibility for keeping accurate wage, time and leave records is always on the employer, and there is no way around this. If the Inspectorate sees this happening through our proactive investigations, or investigations initiated through employee complaints, we will seek penalties.

"These employers had been in business for nearly 20 years and should be well aware of their obligations to all employees.

"This should send an obvious message to employers that where the Labour Inspectorate has visited your business, we expect to see continued compliance, and we will hold employers to account where this isn't the case," Borsboom said.

Borsboom said when the pair were questioned about why they did not have employment records, Mr Ung responded by saying he "forgot".

The pair had previously been found to have breached the Minimum Wage Act following a visit by the Inspectorate in 2007.