The auto-valet has already reimbursed employees to the tune of $96,000 and must now pay $145,000 in penalties.
A South-Auckland employer has been hit with a six-figure fine after it was found to have breached basic employment laws more than 300 times in the past few years.
“For six years or more, Manukau Auto Valet Limited deprived some 221 employees of their most basic employment entitlements – failing to pay at least a minimum wage, or holiday pay to employees leaving the company,” said Labour Inspectorate regional manager, Loua Ward.
The carwash company has already paid $96,451 in arrears to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment for the affected employees but has since been ordered to pay a further $145,000 in penalties after the inspectorate took the case to the Employment Relations Authority.
“The Labour Inspectorate takes these kinds of breaches very seriously as 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,” said Ward.
Director and major shareholder Dharmesh Kumar pleaded ignorance at the ERA hearing but member of the authority Vicki Campbell said this was not a mitigating factor.
“It is the obligation of all employers to understand and adhere to the law,” she wrote in her final decision.
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