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Z Energy is going after former employees of its corporate division, because they are believed to have received underpaid vacation pay of around $ 1.3 million.
Holiday pay miscalculations have been a serious problem for several New Zealand businesses and organizations in recent years.
In 2016, it was revealed that tens of thousands of public sector workers had been scammed out of vacation pay, with estimates that kiwis were owed around $ 2.3 billion. It has been estimated that two million New Zealand employees could be affected.
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Last year a working group was appointed to review the legislation.
The problem primarily affects employees whose hours or wages fluctuate. Employers must pay whichever is higher of their regular weekly wage or their average weekly wage for the last 12 months when employees took leave, but not all have calculated this correctly.
Z Energy said it wanted to speak to any employee in its corporate division since January 1, 2014.
RICKY WILSON / THINGS
Z Energy expects to make the required payments this financial year.
He said ideas for a flexible work project late last year led Z to conduct a thorough investigation of his payroll system to make sure it was compliant with the Vacation Law.
A recent report by independent external experts commissioned by Z highlighted a number of areas where it had not been properly implemented.
“We have always taken pride in the way we take care of our people and in this case, we have disappointed them. So we are so sorry. Our focus right now is to fix things up for past and current employees while making sure that our payroll system and processes are up-to-date so this doesn’t happen in the future, ”said Helen Sedcole, Director of Personnel.
“Therefore, we would like the approximately 550 former permanent, temporary or fixed-term employees who were employed by Z Energy, Z Energy 2015 Limited or Chevron NZ since January 1, 2014 to get in touch, so that we can provide more details”.
Z Energy aims to complete the review by the end of the current financial year and expects to earn about $ 1.3 million in remediation payments.
