Malcolm Fuller.
When employment arrangements are too loose, or just plain wrong, the fallout can be very serious.
This was highlighted with court action in Taranaki early this year, with a farmer who had not been paying his employees their minimum wage entitlements, or the correct public holiday pay, being fined $87,000.
All employers are required to have written employment agreements, as well as wage and time records.
All employees (including sons, daughters, partners and staff) need to be covered by these basic employment systems.
Some of the minimum standards of employment law can be tricky when you don't have a full time HR person handling the paperwork, but we have seen in a string of recent high-profile court cases and enforcement action from MBIE that paperwork is important.
The key minimum standards that farmers should ensure they are on top of include ensuring everyone has an individual employment agreement, time and wage records are up to date and accurate, and holiday and leave records are up to date.
When there was a large-scale shift in the agricultural industry from wages to salary, many thought time recording was a thing of the past. But time recording is linked to compliance with the minimum wage, so it's still vital.
Minimum standards dictate that all employers must be able to demonstrate that they have paid the per hour minimum wage for each two-week period.
The only way to do this is to have accurate recording of actual time worked so it can be compared against salary.
Bear in mind that it's not just farmers who are doing it themselves who have been caught out.
Not all payroll providers adequately account for hours worked in the pay run. Make sure you discuss the need for your staff to be paid the minimum per hour wage, even in the busy times, with your provider if you contract this service out.
Holiday pay can get quite complicated. For statutory holidays, the first thing you have to decide is whether the holiday is a normal working day for that employee or not.
If it is, then they get the day off with pay. Whether or not it's a normal working day also impacts on day in lieu provisions, as only those who work on a public holiday when it is their normal working day get another day.
Confused? Our members have access to the most up to date Federated Farmers contracts - permanent, fixed term or casual - backed with an 0800 327-646 phone advice network.
If you have concerns or are unsure of your obligations as to which employment contract to purchase, or to find out if you're compliant, I urge you to use our 0800 service. It is free and part of your Feds membership.
- Malcolm Fuller is the Federated Farmers Northland Territory.