Bidfood investigated for breach

One of New Zealand’s largest food distributors is being investigated for potentially breaching the terms of the Government’s Covid19 wage subsidy.

Bidfood has received more than $14.3 million so far through the scheme, which requires employers to continue to pay staff at normal rates and at least 80 per cent of their usual income.

Bidfood staff were asked to sign a contract variation, cutting their hours and pay by 20 per cent until June 22. Anyone who worked additional hours during the period was supposed to be paid as normal.

First Union and several employees allege shift hours had increased but not the pay.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment confirmed it was investigating two complaints against Bidfood.

A Bidfood Palmerston North worker was the first of four employees to tell Stuff the company was underpaying its staff. All wished to remain anonymous to avoid potential retaliation.

He said staff felt pressured into signing the contract variation by management’s frequent emphasis on how it would stave off redundancies.

When the lockdown ended, the number of hours Bidfood staff were expected to work slowly crept back up to near normal but their pay remained at 80 per cent.

The worker said Bidfood also added a sixth day to the roster, but it did not come with additional pay or overtime benefits. Staff were told ‘‘you should do your part for the company’’.

A South Island employee said she didn’t sign the variation to her contract after First Union advised against it, and was ostracised for her decision. ‘‘You’re isolated – except when people come up to you to say: ‘Why don’t you do the right thing?’’’

Bidfood chief executive Phil Struckmann said he had spoken to the Labour Inspectorate and had conducted an internal investigation, which found no evidence to back up the complaints.

He reviewed payrolls at each site and found staff were being paid overtime. Without the complainants’ shift and contract details, he said he could only comment on the general situation.

Struckmann said he had made it clear to managers that the terms of the contract variation must be honoured.

First Union spokeswoman Anita Rosentreter said union members from Bidfood sites across the country were complaining about underpayments.

The union had advised workers against signing the contract variation because the company was big enough to weather a few weeks of reduced profits without redundancies or cutting pay, she said. ‘‘It’s completely inappropriate.’’

Bidfood is part of a multinational company, with 30 sites in New Zealand. It had a gross revenue of $1.2 billion over the 12 months before last June, Companies Office records show.