The Employment Relations Authority has fined two related companies, which operated fast food franchises, $16,200 per company for failing to provide their employees with compliant employment agreements, failing to keep wage and time records and failing to keep holiday pay and leave records.

Both companies have ceased to operate the franchises and have ceased trading and no longer have any employees.  All of those circumstances were taken into account in setting the fines for each company, along with their previous lack of convictions.

Each of the three offences faced by the companies carries a maximum fine of $20,000 but that fine can be imposed for each employee involved, so the potential fines for each company were over $4 million per company, due to the large number of employees involved in the fast food franchise operations.  If the companies had still been operating then it is likely that much larger fines would have been imposed, to deter the companies from similar breaches of the law in future. 

It pays to have your employment agreements and wage and time records all compliant with the legislation.

Alan Knowsley

Employment Lawyer
Wellington