Employer also failed to pay employees for working on public holiday, according to the ERA
The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) has penalized a company and its owner a combined $48,000, who is also supposed to be banned from being a director or manager, for violating minimum employment standards.
Alam Horticulture was ordered to pay $32,000, while its owner Morshed Alam was fined $16,000, according to the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment.
The ERA ordered the payment after it found that Alam and its owner violated the Employment Relations Act 2000 and the Holidays Act 2003 by:
- Not keeping sufficient wage and time records
- Not keeping sufficient holidays and leave records
- Not paying employees for not working on a public holiday which was otherwise a working day
- Not paying employees at least time and a half for working on a public holiday
As a result of the violations, the company and its owner were further ordered to pay four employees $2,565 in wage arrears.
Simon Humphries, Head of Labour Inspectorate, said the small amount to be repaid to the employees was "not relevant."
"Not paying employees what they are legally entitled to is unacceptable no matter whether the amount involved is $100 or $10,000," Humphries said in a statement.
He stressed that record-keeping is a "fundamental requirement for all employers" and that the Labour Inspectorate takes failure to keep complete records seriously.
"As has happened in this case, employers who fail to keep complete records are liable for penalties," Humphries noted.
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Alam's ban from director, manager roles
Alam Horticulture Ltd is regarded as a phoenix company, or a commercial entity that has emerged from the collapse of another through insolvency, according to the MBIE.
Alam Horticulture (2017) Ltd rose after Alam Horticulture Ltd went into liquidation in June 2017, which was already a company that emerged from DP Alam Horticulture Ltd that also went into liquidation in 2016.
By 2019, he was disqualified for being a director for a period of five and a half years, which prohibited him from taking any management roles.
This led to an associate of his to replace him as the director of the horticulture firm, according to the MBIE.
But probe by the Labour Inspectorate found that Alam continued running the day-to-day operations at his firm and was even the one answering on its behalf.
Alam was already sentenced in December 2023 to six months of community detention after violating the ban on management roles, as well as the prohibition on being a director a phoenix company.