Former Auckland restaurant owner to pay worker 12k after stealing from her pay

The restaurant manager was owed $9,000 in sick leave holiday pay and public holiday pay. Photo / 123rf

Restaurant manager Angelica Sosa got a surprise when she checked her payslip.

Sosa had been working at the restaurant for nine months when she was promoted to manager.

Her employment agreement stated she had 30 hours of work per week, four weeks of annual leave and received an hourly wage of $22.50.

But after requesting to see her payslips, Sosa realised her boss had been deducting 50 cents per hour from her pay.

"I wasn't aware I was being underpaid until sometime in mid-2020 when I requested and got access to some of my payslips. I raised the underpayment issue but nothing changed," she told the ERA after making an official complaint about her boss.

Sosa was employed by AMICI Group Ltd (AGL) and worked at a restaurant owned by the company. The restaurant, which isn't named in the recent ERA decision went into liquidation in August of 2021.

In February 2021, sole director and fifty per cent AGL shareholder Kreshnik Fejzullahu claimed he had emailed Sosa a three-week notice of termination after the restaurant failed to make enough money to keep it running.

Sosa denied receiving the emails and told the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) how she had turned up to work on February 2nd to find out her last day of work was four days prior.

Sosa took the matter to the ERA to recover arrears of wages, holiday pay, public holiday pay and sick pay from the period she was employed as the manager.

She also sought orders to recover the money personally from Fejzullahu, after liquidators advised there was no money in the business for it.

"AGL cannot pay because it did not pay me when my employment ended, Fejzullahu was the person involved in the breaches."

She also claimed a penalty against him for the breaches of her employment agreement, interest on the arrears and costs.

Fejzullahu told the Authority he wasn't involved and there was little connection between his actions and Sosa's loss.

"Sosa is mistaken in her claims."

Fejzullahu also claimed the written employment agreement entered into by the parties was only for immigration purposes and did not reflect the true nature of the employment relationship.

Sosa denied this allegation and Fejzullahu was unable to provide evidence.

ERA member Andrew Gane, noted how AGL and Sosa were bound by the terms and conditions of the written employment agreement they have both signed.

Gane also found sick leave errors, holiday pay errors and public holiday errors.

"There is compelling evidence of direct loss suffered by Sosa as a result of
the breaches, including financial difficulties."

Gane also touched on the time and resources spent trying to enforce obligations that were agreed upon by both parties in the employment agreement.

"Fejzullahu knowingly continued to pay her 50 cents less than her contractual hourly rate.

"Fejzullahu may have difficulty paying any penalty, but given his role in overseeing the breaches of Sosa's employment standards he should be held accountable."

Fejzullahu was ordered to pay Sosa $9,260.

A $6,000 penalty was also sought for aiding and abetting breaches of her employment agreement, half was to be paid to Sosa and half to the Crown.

Open Justice reached out to Kreshnik Fejzullahu but had no response.