Restaurant pays worker below minimum wage for one year

Saturday, 24 June 2017

Indian restaurant Urban Turban in Auckland's viaduct underpaid an employee who worked more than 60 hours per week

An Indian restaurant in Auckland's viaduct paid a former employee almost $2 below the minimum wage in his first year of employment.

The Employment Relations Authority has ordered Urban Turban to pay Nayak about $40,000 for breaching his contract.

Restaurant manager Sachin Nayak was contractually bound to work for 45 hours per week on a $40,000 salary, but claimed he often worked more than 60 hours per week. In his first year Nayak said he was paid $12.82 per hours.

The Authority found that Urban Turban had failed to record accurate wages and hours Nayak had worked.

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His contract also included a penalty fee of $5000 if he decided to leave his employment within two years.

In his second year Nayak was promoted and his salary increased to $52,000 but months later his hours were cut in half without notice.

Nayak said he was worried he would have to pay the $5000 penalty clause in his contract if he debated the reduction in his hours.

Nayak asked Urban Turban's director Bhushan Arolkar for a couple of weeks of notice, but this was denied.

The Authority said Urban Turban changed its story about why it reduced Nayak's hours. First Urban Turban told the Authority this was because of a back injury Nayak suffered the previous year.

Later Urban Turban told the ERA Nayak had sought the reduction himself and then changed its reason again, when it said the hours were cut for financial reasons.

Nayak said he had suffered a back injury but returned to work after six days of sick leave but he denied that he had asked for a reduction in hours.

The ERA said there was no good reason why Nayak would have agreed to an immediate substantial cut in his salary.

As a result, Nayak resigned from his position as he could no longer support his family on the part time hours, but he did not receive his final pay as well as holiday pay (including public holiday pay).

The Authority said Urban Turban was not legally entitled to unilaterally reduce Nayak's hours of work and that he should have been paid as per his contractual hours.

Nayak also did not receive his holiday pay entitlements and his time and a half entitlements for the hours worked on public holidays.

Urban Turban has been penalised for multiple breaches of Nayak's employment agreement including reducing hours without consultation and failing to pay his final week's salary and holiday pay.

The restaurant will have to pay Nayak about $40,000 to cover the penalties of its breaches, wage and holiday pay arrears and for the distress he has suffered.