Three months’ work unpaid

A Springs Junction cafe has been ordered to pay almost $12,000 to a former worker who it did not pay for three months.

The owner of Alpine Motor Inn & Cafe Ltd, near the Lewis Pass in the Southern Alps, was ordered to pay a fine of $7500 by the Employment Relations Authority.

The authority found the former employee, Kamaljeet Kaur, was not paid between November 17, 2014 and February 15, 2015.

Cafe owner Jerry Hohneck claimed Kaur was a volunteer and worked without his agreement to help out her friend .

Kaur told the authority she worked up to eight hours a day, six days a week and received no pay or employment agreement and that her accommodation and food were provided for free.

Kaur held a student visa with a stipulation that she could only work 20 hours per week until she received a full visa in February 2015.

She told the authority she was hired as a chef’s assistant, but that the duties included cleaning motel rooms and customer service in the cafe and motel.

She said Hohneck told her that she would only be paid once she had a full work visa and that, in the meantime, she was just working for food and accommodation.

She resigned on March 23, 2015 because she was sick of not being paid properly.

Employment Relations Authority member David Appleton said he believed Kaur’s evidence over Hohneck’s.