ERA orders worker overpaid $9k by Christchurch metals recycling firm to pay up

A man overpaid $9000 in wages agreed to pay it back at $100 a week, but then quit his job. He's now resumed repayments after the Employment Relations Authority got involved. Photo / 123rf

A software glitch led to a worker being overpaid $9000 in wages, but the worker quit just as the agreed repayment scheme kicked in.

Now, the Employment Relations Authority has ordered Tupu Suisala to pay back the money to family-owned Christchurch company Specialty Metals at $100 a week, or risk seeing the debt rise.

Suisala has now made good on the agreement, having turned up at an investigation meeting this month, wanting to discuss payment of the money owed.

The company, which is noted as having had a good relationship with Suisala, sought the ERA’s help in recovering the overpayments from Suisala, who worked there for nine years, before he left in October 2022 just days after signing a formal agreement to repay the money.

In a decision released last week, the authority ordered Suisala to pay Specialty Metals $8483, most of which was the balance owing for the overpayments, plus a small amount of interest and costs.

Suisala worked at Specialty Metals, which was described on its website as a family-owned company that recycled specialist and precious metals, from November 2013 to October 2022.

The firm worked with a wide range of industries to offer a nationwide recycling option for these metals.

In July 2022 it was discovered that, due to a software error, Suisala had been overpaid by $9000 which he was told about and the error was corrected so that no further overpayments would be made.

He agreed then to repay the money by weekly deductions of $100, and in October the arrangement was formalised with a written agreement that included terms he would need to continue the repayments if he left the employer.

Suisala left Specialty Metals in October 2022 and did not maintain the payments.

The company invoked a clause in the agreement that should Suisala stop the repayments before the debt was paid it would pursue recovery of the remaining debt.

The agreement stated that this could include legal action and if so, any costs incurred from debt recovery would be passed on.

Suisala was sent a letter of demand for payment in March 2023, that outlined Specialty Metals would agree to payments continuing at the rate of $100 per week if they started on or before April 1, 2023, and continued until the debt was paid in full.

The firm said it would not seek interest or legal costs if Suisala agreed to those terms, but he did not resume weekly payments.

NZME has approached the company for comment, but a director, Korina Kirk, said they were reluctant to say more than what was in the ERA decision, out of respect for Suisala.

The firm began proceedings in the ERA in January this year, seeking payment of the balance owing for the overpayment, interest and costs.

Suisala did not respond and did not attend an initial meeting with the authority, but did attend this month’s investigation meeting.

The authority, in exercising its discretion over whether to award interest, noted the “considerable period” where no payment was made, and therefore interest of $312 was reasonable.

It also said that a claim of almost $1800 for costs was reasonable in the circumstances, including that Suisala had agreed to be responsible for costs associated with debt recovery should he not honour the original agreement.

Speciality Metals agreed payment of the total of $8483 could be made in instalments.

From today, Suisala, who has a new job, is repaying the debt at $100 weekly through automatic deductions from his wages.

NZME was unsuccessful in reaching Suisala for comment.

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.