Nation of ‘chicken fans’ saves at the till
to pay their employees for such activities, and we know there are some out there, to fix these practices as, following this decision, they cannot continue to plead ignorance.’’
Retail strategist Chris Wilkinson said the Smiths City ruling was ‘‘definitely an outlier case’’.
‘‘It is a company that has been fairly traditional in the way it’s done business and, like others, is likely to have some practices that are not in line with contemporary working ways.’’
The Employment Court estimated the underpayment by Smiths City was more than $800 a year for a staff member consistently earning the minimum wage.
The order was limited to those employees who were paid at, or near, the minimum wage.
Hornsby-Geluk said this was likely because those paid a salary were paid for all hours they performed, including ‘‘any reasonable, additional hours’’.
‘‘So salaried workers might have formal hours of 40 a week, but often they have contracts which provide that for any additional hours required to undertake the job, they won’t receive additional remuneration. The people on minimum wage have to be paid minimum wage for each and every hour worked.’’
First Union retail, finance and commerce secretary Tali Williams said it was not a new issue, and was especially prevalent within retail.
‘‘It’s common for staff to be called into meetings before their workday begins, for sales huddles and the like. It shows businesses don’t value or respect their staff’s personal, outof-work time.
‘‘I suspect this story will bring forward many more complaints.’’
Smiths City has more than 30 stores and 400 employees. The country’s biggest apple exporter, Scales Corporation, is selling its cold-store businesses, Polarcold Stores and Whakatu Coldstores, for $151 million to an overseas buyer.
The deal gives an acquisition war chest to Christchurch-based Scales, which began life more than 100 years ago as a shipping company but now employs more than 700 people in its businesses, which include pet food, cold stores, and Mr Apple in Hawke’s Bay.
Sharebrokers view Scales as a success story since it was listed on the New Zealand stock exchange in 2011, from the receivership of South Canterbury Finance.