Northland dairy farmers advised to sort out employment records

Labour inspectors are visiting farms around the country. Photo/File

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has advised dairy farmers in Northland to sort out their employment and time records ahead of visits by labour inspectors.

Farmers could end up facing a maximum fine of $20,000 for multiple breaches as labour inspectors prepare to visit farms around the country.

The advice to Northland farmers followed similar visits to farms in Waikato where infringement notices of $1000 or $2000 were issued to six farmers over the last two months.

A total of 21 employment breaches were identified across 14 farms, with the Labour Inspectorate issuing seven improvement notices and three warnings in addition to $9000 in infringement notices.

Of the six farmers issued infringement notices, three received $2000 in penalties for breaching their obligation to have both written employment agreements and time records, and three received $1000 penalties for not having one or the other.

The Inspectorate's Natalie Gardiner said employers who did not have basic employment records in place could be handed an infringement notice by an Inspector of $1000 per breach, all the way up to $20,000.

While inspectors were yet to visit dairy farmers in Northland in this operation, she said they must be prepared and to sort out their employment and time records.

"And if we do we will be there with additional enforcement tools, such as infringement notices, which could leave farmers with up to a $20,000 penalty if they're caught with multiple breaches.

"These are random visits to farms and this will be happening across the country- all farmers should be prepared for an Inspectorate visit," she said.

Ms Gardiner said farmers who were compliant have nothing to worry about.

She said time, wage, holiday and leave records and a written employment agreement were foundations of a good employment relationship.

In July, the Employment Relations Authority ordered a Whangarei sharemilker to pay two labourers nearly $33,000 in wage arrears and lost remuneration. The sharemilker did not keep wage and leave records.

MBIE encourages anyone concerned about their employment situation, or the situation of someone they know, to call its contact centre on 0800 20 90 20 where their concerns will be handled in a safe environment.

Further advice on employment obligations can be found on Employment NZ.