The Employment Relations Authority is meant to fix problems between workers and bosses - quickly.
Lawyers and advocates say the Employment Relations Authority, meant to dispense quick justice in employer-employee disputes, is creaking under the strain of Covid-related issues.
National Correspondent Steve Kilgallon reports on a ‘broken system’. Got a problem with your boss, been sacked unfairly, or wages left unpaid? Be prepared for a long wait if you’re planning on going to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA). The ERA, the first legal stop for resolving employment disputes, has a huge case backlog: its review officers have 659 cases on their books, with a further 280 waiting just to be assigned.
Dominico Zapata/Stuff
Satwinder Sam Singh is seeking tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid wages and compensation from his former employer.
Stuff for its owners’ long history of alleged exploitation of migrant workers must now close within 30 days – a final ruling that one expert says could “open the floodgates” to shut down other rogue operators. The Labour Inspectorate has used the ruling to warn liquor franchises – singling out two major chains, Thirsty Liquor and Brews – that it was time to improve, or face the consequences. The Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority (ARLA) has this week turned down an appeal by Two Brothers Ltd, which runs Tokoroa’s Thirsty Liquor store, backing an original decision by the South Waikato District Council’s liquor licensing committee to deny them a new licence.
Dominico Zapata/Stuff
Satwinder Sam Singh is seeking tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid wages and compensation from his former employer.
A liquor licensing committee has told a community activist it will not hear his allegations that two liquor-store owning brothers exploited their migrant worker staff.
Stuff reported in June how three workers alleged they were paid as little as $8 an hour and were collectively owed $400,000 in missing wages and entitlements by Hamilton-based brothers Taranjeet and Jaspreet Singh Janda. Former Salvation Army worker Colin Bridle planned to use the
Stuff story and call one of the former bottle store workers as his witness when he opposed the renewal of the liquor licence for the Janda brothers’ Thirsty Liquor store in Tokoroa.