The importance of keeping proper time and wage records should never be underestimated. Section 130 of the Employment Relations Act 2000 details specific information that has to be recorded for each employee. In addition to the employee’s name and address there are requirements to keep details of the hours worked each day, the wages paid and the method of calculation. There is also a requirement for record keeping in the Holidays Act 2003.
Some information can be recorded in the employment agreement or in a work roster. If you use our software or online Toolbox, the schedule wizard in the employment agreement builder enables this mandatory information to be recorded.
No matter how the information is held it has to be accessible to the employee and a Labour Inspector, with historic records being available for at least seven years.
A number of businesses found out recently that the cost of getting record keeping wrong, or not keeping records, has serious financial consequences. In addition making good any underpayment that may have occurred, these businesses were also fined for failing to keep records – including time records, wages books and employment agreements. The fines imposed for the breach ranged between $4,000 and $50,000, plus tens of thousands in wage arrears. In the absence of records held by the employer any arrears of wages claim will be based on information supplied by the employee.
Keeping good records is not only sound commercial sense, but also a legal requirement and is strongly enforced by MBIE. For advice please call us.