Farmers fined for poor book keeping
At the end of the day our farm employees work flipping hard milking our cows and everyone deserves a fair pay for a fair day's work.
Chris Lewis
Dairy farmers are being warned they face ‘‘serious’’ fines if they fail to keep good employment records for wages, hours and holidays for their staff.
Farmers failing to meet their obligations - which included leave records as well as keeping compliant employment agreements - could expect to face repercussions, Labour inspectorate regional manager Natalie Gardiner said.
The latest investigation by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment found that 28 per cent of the 102 farms visited in 2016 failed to meet their record keeping obligations, resulting in $11,000 in fines.
‘‘You can bet the farm that the inspectorate will visit more farms in the coming year, and any which are found not meeting their employment obligations can expect to face serious consequences.’’
Gardiner said that while the inspectorate recognised it had been a difficult season because of climatic conditions, these were basic requirements that were the foundations for good staffemployer relationships.
‘‘It’s not our intention to make life any more difficult, especially for those farmers under those sorts of pressures.’’
Accurate records helped protect farm employers if there was a dispute with staff, she said.
‘‘It’s in their best interest to get it right.’’
A new stand-down list introduced last year would prevent employers breaching rules with migrant staff from sponsoring new visas to recruit migrant labour for up to two years.
‘‘By keeping good records, you offer protection to both yourself and your employee should anything go wrong or come under dispute – and are on your way to being a best practice employer.
Gardiner said the reality was that no farmer should be failing to meet basic and long-standing requirements of New Zealand employment law.
Federated Farmers employment spokesman Chris Lewis said there was no excuses for farm employers not being fully compliant. There were enough tools available now that took the hassle out of ensuring staff were properly paid so that farmers were meeting all of their obligations.
‘‘At the end of the day our farm employees work flipping hard milking our cows and everyone deserves a fair pay for a fair day’s work.’’
The industry was suffering from labour shortages and properly paying staff ensured dairy farmers were setting the right example.
‘‘We are in an industry where we have to show that we are achieving good management practice and there are systems out there which I have learnt when you are employing up to seven staff at peak it actually makes your life a lot easier.’’