Employment breaches shake up shearing sector
Investigations into breaches of employment rules have caused a shake up in the shearing industry.
Shearing contractors are no strangers to rules. But when it comes to the law, the president of the New Zealand Shearing Contractors Association (NZSCA), Jamie McConachie said shearing contractors had to follow the same rules as other employers.
‘‘Because we pay by using production based ‘piece rate’ wages for the shearers, we like to think we’re special, but in fact we’re the same as other employers – the rules apply to us too.’’
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) labour inspectors made official visits to seven central North Island shearing contractors last August and all but one were ‘‘ill prepared’’ for compliance audits, McConachie said.
The audit visits were initiated by a complaint raised about the way a contractor had paid wages for his staff working on the public holiday of Queen’s Birthday in early June last year.
In the shearing investigations last spring, six out of seven shearing contractors were issued infringement notices, totalling $19,000. The infringements were for breaking employment rules, including the widespread lack of the use of employment agreements, inadequate timekeeping records and the improper application of the Holidays Act 2003.
This was followed by the MBIE providing NZSCA notice that most payroll methods in the shearing industry were in breach of the Employment Relations Act 2000 and Holidays Act 2003.
Following legal advice, NZSCA made significant adjustments to its employment agreements. The shearing contractor organisation then held initial seminars and training for members on the way that employment and holiday regulations had to be adhered to in the industry.
NZSCA is holding a workshop on employment and payroll changes at their Queenstown conference on May 16.