New Zealand’s fourth-largest employer is battling to iron out admin problems that have left scores of employees underpaid, according to a major union.
“[There have been] hundreds of complaints of underpayment, incorrect holiday pay, no pay at all in some cases, as well as workers not receiving pay slips,” claimed a representative from E tū.
Spotless, the contracting company at the centre of the storm, told HRM it had recently introduced a new payroll software system across its operations.
“This has led to some short-term discrepancies in payment for some of our staff,” admitted general manager of marketing Leanne Gough. “We have proactively managed this transition, and are confident that the majority of issues have been resolved,” she added.
Jill Ovens, industry co-ordinator for E tū, pointed to a voice-automated time clock system as the source of many pay problems.
“Either the system tells them it is busy and to call back later or it does not recognise their voice,” she explained. “If this happens, they are paid only a fraction of the actual hours worked.”
The company which processes over 5,000 wage payments for employees in New Zealand every week, has discussed the issues with E tū and is investigating.
“We take our responsibility to remunerate each individual employee accurately and on time very seriously,” stressed Gough.
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