Rose McVeagh: Good paperwork sidesteps fines

With labour inspectors visiting farms at random, now's the time to check your paperwork is in order.

Having employment agreements and time records helps you manage your farm business effectively as well as avoid a fine.

Earlier in 2016 new legislation came into force which allows the labour inspectorate to issue fines if they find employers (of all industries) are not meeting record-keeping requirements.

The fines are like a speeding ticket - except much more expensive. Having strong and fair employment practices in place benefits employees and helps raise the industry's reputation as having fair and reputable bosses.

A visiting labour inspector will mainly be looking for:

• Employment agreements: Each person you employ must have a formal, signed employment agreement, and an inspector will ask to see this. If you still need to get these in place you can use the employment agreement builder at eab.business.govt.nz. Alternatively you can purchase one from Federated Farmers or contact a people management consultant or lawyer.
• Wage records: Employers must keep wage, time, holiday and leave records that comply with the Employment Relations Act 2000 and the Holidays Act 2003.
• Time records: Showing staff timesheets is the easiest way to do this. Hours worked can be recorded by staff on paper, on a spreadsheet online, or on an app. If you're not doing this yet, start now.

Visit dairynz.co.nz/timesheets to learn more.

Print timesheet paper forms and read our timekeeping app review at dairynz.co.nz/timekeeping.

Employers must also show staff have been correctly paid, and payroll records are the best way to do this. Be aware that minimum wage - currently $15.25/hour - must be paid for every hour worked.

If staff are on a salary, employers need to know how many hours they can work each week before their pay needs to be topped up. Visit dairynz.co.nz/people or employment.govt.nz.

- Rose McVeagh is a people management specialist with DairyNZ. Her article was first published in Inside Dairy.