Two Dunedin restaurant employers have been ordered to pay $11,500 by the Employment Relations Authority for failing to keep accurate wage, time and leave records. Hai Ung and Vuochhuor Ung, who operate the South Dunedin Curry House, had been visited by the Inspectorate in 2007 following a complaint from three employees and were found to have breached the Minimum Wage Act, failed to keep accurate records and did not have employment agreements.
“This employer was one of 41 businesses proactively visited by the Inspectorate in Dunedin in November 2017,” said Labour Inspectorate regional manager Jeanie Borsboom. “When questioned about why they did not have employment records, Mr Ung told the Labour Inspector he ‘forgot’.”
Upon the first visit in 2007, the employers were provided with Employment New Zealand’s educational material to assist them with understanding their obligations as employers.
“These employers had been in business for nearly 20 years and should be well aware of their obligations to all employees,” Borsboom said. “We revisit businesses to ensure continued compliance with employment law, and Mr and Mrs Ung still failed to keep accurate records. This should send an obvious message to employers that where the Labour Inspectorate has visited your business, we expect to see continued compliance, and we will hold employers to account where this isn’t the case.”
The employers have been placed on the employer Stand Down list for 18 months and will be prevented from hiring migrant workers for that time. MBIE encourages anyone who has information about minimum standards or visa conditions not being met to phone the Ministry’s service centre where calls will be handled in a confidential manner on 0800 20 90 20.
