Posted on: Jan 11, 2013

Compensation for the loss of the benefit of an employer’s contribution to an employee’s KiwiSaver account can be claimed but the Employment Relations Authority does not have jurisdiction to order an employer to make KiwiSaver contributions to an employee’s fund. That being the case, when an employer fails to make the required KiwiSaver contribution, employees should bring a personal grievance against the employer and claim a remedy for loss of a benefit rather than ask the Authority to order the employer to make the payment.

In McAlister v Hadley Francis Ltd [2012] NZERA Christchurch 143, an ex-employee alleged that his employer had failed to pay employer contributions to Inland Revenue in respect of the employee’s KiwiSaver account and asked the Authority to order the employer to pay him the amount in question. The Authority said that the employee was clearly entitled to the sum he sought but that the Authority had no power to make an order in relation to KiwiSaver at all. It said the employee’s redress lay under the KiwiSaver Act 2006 and the Tax Administration Act 1994. However, in Benge v Canterbury Language College Ltd t/a Canterbury College Ltd [2012] NZERA Christchurch 141, an employee who had been awarded four months’ lost wages claimed that she had also lost holiday pay for that four-month period and her KiwiSaver employer contribution. She said they were benefits she could reasonably have expected to have obtained if her grievance had not arisen. The Authority agreed with her and quantified the leave benefit lost by multiplying the four months’ lost wages by 8% and the KiwiSaver benefit lost by multiplying the four months’ lost wages by 2%.

Disclaimer

This article, and any information contained on our website is necessarily brief and general in nature, and should not be substituted for professional advice. You should always seek professional advice before taking any action in relation to the matters addressed.

Posted on: Jan 11, 2013

Employees of the Bay of Plenty District Health Board claimed they have not been provided with a meal or rest break in accordance with sections 69ZD and 69ZE of the Employment Relations Act 2000 and applied to the Employment Relations Authority for the imposition of a penalty on the employer for breach of the Act.

The Authority found that the applicants were tied to their work station, and were forced into the unsatisfactory position of eating and drinking at the work station when they could and that the employer did not comply with the rest break provisions in section 69ZD(4) of the Act. The Authority said it was of the opinion that the rights provided under the Act were minimum rights and could not be minimised or restricted. The Authority ordered the DHB to pay a penalty of $3,000 to each applicant.

 

Disclaimer

This article, and any information contained on our website is necessarily brief and general in nature, and should not be substituted for professional advice. You should always seek professional advice before taking any action in relation to the matters addressed.