Wage deductions are only legal in a few circumstances, including if an employee has agreed to or requested the deduction in writing. This can be varied or withdrawn at any time - even if the original consent was included in an employment agreement.
The Minimum Wage Act outlines strict requirements for minimum pay. It can also be broken if deductions mean employees end up with less than the hourly minimum for hours worked.
In Northland, most complaints were made by workers in the agriculture, forestry and fishery industries.
Whangarei employment lawyer David Grindle considered the numbers small.
"That's not that many, over three years," he said.
"The vast majority of employers fulfil their obligations, and the vast majority of those that don't, fulfil them when they're made aware that they've made a breach. "Very few employers set out on purpose to breach legislation."
However, some employers could improve their standards.
"Some employers need to learn to maintain better records, especially around taking annual leave and leave without pay so when they come to calculate things like wages those records are there to evaluate."
Nationwide, 1910 complaints were made to the ministry under the Minimum Wage Act between July 2012 and February this year. A further 733 complaints were made under the Wages Protection Act in the same period.
The agriculture, forestry and fishery industries were the biggest offenders, followed by the accommodation and food services industries.
Council of Trade Union president Helen Kelly said the complaints would only hit "the tip of the iceberg" of breaches.
"That's only the people who can actually get through and complain and feel confident in doing that," she said.
"These are the worst forms of exploitation in New Zealand as the minimum code, which employees rely on, is being broken."
