Car dealer faces $ 320,000- plus cost for breaching employee pay rights

Second- hand car dealer 2 Cheap Cars has been ordered to pay a $ 70,000 penalty and could also be liable for $ 250,000- plus in arrears after employment breaches at the company.

The Employment Relations Authority ( ERA) made the order after a Labour Inspectorate investigation found serious breaches of minimum wages, holiday pay and recordkeeping at the firm, which has branches across New Zealand.

In total, 2 Cheap Cars could pay more than $ 320,000 in fines and back pay for its employees for the breaches and would be placed on a 24- month stand- down period from recruiting migrant workers as a result.

“There simply is no excuse for employers to not meet their obligations and as this case demonstrates, it can be costly,” said inspectorate regional manager Loua Ward.

“The Labour Inspectorate takes these kinds of breaches very seriously.”

During the investigation, the in- spectorate sampled 12 of the roughly 83 employees and found they were owed $ 20,835.34 in entitlements.

These have since been paid, but Ward said the nature of the breaches meant almost all employees were affected.

An improvement notice was issued to 2 Cheap Cars last November to audit its records, which has so far uncovered estimated arrears of more than $ 250,000.

A second external audit is now being done, to ensure all current and former workers have received their correct entitlements.

“Not only did the employer breach the rights of the people working for them, they also attempted to gain an unfair advantage over their law- abiding competitors,” Ward said.

“A number of the employees were migrant workers who may not have been aware of all their rights and entitlements.

“Every worker in New Zealand must be paid at least the minimum wage for every hour worked, along with their holiday and leave entitlements.”