A pair of Domino's pizza franchises in Auckland have been penalised more than $30,000 for "serious breaches" of employment law by failing to keep correct wage and leave records.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's Labour Inspectorate conducted an investigation into two businesses operated by a Mr Xi Chen in the suburbs of Henderson and Te Atatu.
The Labour Inspectorate found the breaches at the two Domino's stores affected 112 staff, and were characterised by a failure to provide their employees with correct employment agreements and to keep correct wage, time, holiday and leave records.
Mr Chen was fined $32,4000 in total for the breaches.
In addition to penalties, Mr Chen also paid his staff more than $54,000 in arrears, as calculated by Domino’s Pizza Enterprises.
Labour Inspectorate Retail Lead Loua Ward said there is no excuse for the Domino's franchises disorganised practices in staff employment dealings.
"It's disappointing to see companies operating under established and international brands, failing to provide employees with their minimum rights," Mrs Ward said.
"These businesses have highly systematic approaches to the production of their product. It's quite unacceptable that they do not have a similarly systematic approach throughout their operations, to ensure compliance with minimum employment rights, for what can be very vulnerable workers.
"It's simply not acceptable for businesses to 'fix things up' after the event. Businesses and their brands must have mechanisms in place to monitor and prevent employment standards breaches. It's the 'getting it right' that counts."
Dominos responds
A Dominos spokeperson told 1 NEWS in a statement they worked closely with MBIE over the employment breaches and "any underpayments of team members found were immediately rectified".
Dominos' statement in full:
Domino’s conducted a thorough wage audit after a staff complaint in relation to the particular store and team member wages. This included working closely with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. As a result, the franchisee was removed from the business and any underpayments of team members found were immediately rectified.
Domino’s expects all of its franchisees to comply with their New Zealand employment law obligations. As mentioned above, this behaviour is not tolerated and the franchisee no longer works with Domino’s.
Any complaint/s received by Domino’s are immediately investigated and as seen in this example, action immediately taken.
First and foremost, our concern is with ensuring our team members are treated as they should be, including being paid correctly at all times.
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