Penalties for not complying with rules on employment documentation...

In two recent cases employers have been penalised by the Employment Relations Authority for failing to have or provide the required employment documentation.

In the first case an employer provided its staff with draft written employment agreements but did not follow up to ensure these were finalised and signed. It had decided not to do so when staff said they did not want written agreements. That was not an excuse for not providing written agreements for all staff and a penalty of $3000 was imposed by the ERA.

In the second case an employer failed to provide copies of wage and holiday records to the Labour Inspector upon request. The ERA imposed a penalty of $6500 on the employer and ordered it to provide the records.

As can be seen from these examples it is expensive to ignore your responsibilities to provide documentation. All employers must have written employment agreements for all employees. They must keep a signed copy on file and also keep copies of all drafts provided to an employee to consider. In addition all employers must keep accurate wage and leave records and provide those to a Labour Inspector on request.