Worker forced to repay wages is awarded $85k

A woman has been awarded nearly $85,000 because her employer used an invalid contract to force her to repay wages and then unjustifiably dismissed her.

Qishan Huang was on a work visa while working in Auckland for Independent Prosperity, which sells insurance products, between October 2016 and August 2018.

The Employment Relations Authority says the business director, Angela Churchill, demanded Huang repay $22,000 of salary and forgo 14 weeks’ pay, because she had not met her sales target and had not covered her own salary.

It said Churchill based her demands on a contract Huang had not signed and was unaware of until it was filed with the authority.

Huang said she repaid the money — which she borrowed from her mother — out of fear of losing her work visa.

“Ms Churchill attempted to persuade the authority that the signatures on the May and July [employment] agreements were not hers and that her signature had been forged,” wrote authority member Anna Fitzgibbon in her decision. “This is one of a number of occasions in which I find Ms Churchill’s evidence to be unreliable.”

The authority said Churchill claimed she had issued warnings in March 2018 in relation to Huang’s performance, but Huang denied being told her job was in jeopardy.

“I have reviewed the emails and they do raise issues concerning Ms Huang’s performance, but they do not constitute warnings that her employment may be in jeopardy if she does not meet Ms Churchill’s expectations. Further, the emails do not set expectations for Ms Huang. Rather, they are statements concerning Ms Huang’s supposed poor attendance rate,” wrote Fitzgibbon.

The $85,000 includes compensation for humiliation, loss of dignity and lost wages, as well as reimbursement.