{"id":20946,"date":"2025-04-03T00:11:32","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T00:11:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/?p=20946"},"modified":"2025-09-23T03:09:30","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T03:09:30","slug":"labour-inspectorate-visits-just-got-more-serious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/2025\/04\/03\/labour-inspectorate-visits-just-got-more-serious\/","title":{"rendered":"Labour Inspectorate Visits Just Got More Serious"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"20946\" class=\"elementor elementor-20946\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ec022d1 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"ec022d1\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f261827 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"f261827\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Labour Inspectorate Visits Just Got More Serious <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d7933a4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"d7933a4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Most business owners know a visit from the Labour Inspectorate isn\u2019t exactly a highlight of the week \u2013 especially with targeted inspections now underway across retail, hospitality, construction, security, horticulture, viticulture, and dairy sectors.<\/p><p>But things just got even more serious.<\/p><p>As of March 13, 2025, employers who intentionally fail to pay employees their wages or entitlements can now be charged with theft under the <em>Crimes (Theft by Employer) Amendment Act<\/em>.<\/p><p>This includes unpaid wages, holiday pay, and other entitlements under the Holidays Act 2003 and the Minimum Wage Act 1983.<\/p><p><strong>But What Does This Really Mean?<\/strong><\/p><p>Most of us don\u2019t <em>intentionally<\/em> underpay staff \u2013 but mistakes or assumptions can quickly land you in hot water.<\/p><p>For example:<br \/>You used to pay time and a half for overtime, but due to a downturn, you\u2019ve stopped. If that change isn\u2019t documented and signed by both parties, it could be considered a breach of contract \u2013 and potentially an intentional failure to pay.<\/p><p><strong>What Should You Do?<\/strong><\/p><ul><li>Review all employee agreements \u2013 Are staff on the correct contract for the work they\u2019re doing? For example, are they truly casual? Check here: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.employment.govt.nz\/starting-employment\/types-of-worker\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">govt.nz\/types-of-worker<\/a><\/li><li>Cross-check your contracts with your payroll system \u2013 Any discrepancies?<\/li><li>Ensure your payroll provider or accountant is calculating PAYE, KiwiSaver, leave, and entitlements correctly<\/li><li>If issues are found, act fast: Investigate thoroughly, meet with the employee in a transparent and respectful manner, and resolve the issue immediately.<\/li><\/ul><p><strong>Why It Matters:<\/strong><\/p><p>Penalties for non-compliance are steep:<\/p><ul><li>Individuals \u2013 Up to 1 year in prison or a $5,000 fine<\/li><li>Companies \u2013 Fines up to $30,000<\/li><\/ul><p>Don\u2019t leave it to chance. Now\u2019s the time to get your house in order. For more information and guidance, visit employment.govt.nz or call the team today on 022 602 7877.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-22ec114 elementor-widget__width-initial elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"22ec114\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"401\" height=\"295\" src=\"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/New-Network-HR-Logo.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-19841\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/New-Network-HR-Logo.png 401w, https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/New-Network-HR-Logo-300x221.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most business owners know a visit from the Labour Inspectorate isn\u2019t exactly a highlight of the week \u2013 especially with targeted inspections now underway across many industries. But things just got even more serious.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19841,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-advice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20946"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20949,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20946\/revisions\/20949"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}