Do I need to keep wages and time records?
Following on from the previous blog about keeping time records for salaried employees, we know that not all employers are aware of their obligation to keep wages and time records (let alone for salaried employees) so we thought we should blog about that obligation.
Section 130 of the Employment Relations Act 2000 requires that every employer must at all times keep a record for each employee which shows:
the name of the employee
the employee’s age, if under 20 years of age
the employee’s postal address
the kind of work on which the employee is usually employed
whether the employee is employed under an individual employment agreement or a collective agreement
in the case of an employee employed under a collective agreement, the title and expiry date of the agreement, and the employee’s classification under it
the number of hours worked each day in a pay period and the pay for those hours
the wages paid to the employee each pay period and the method of calculation
details of any employment relations education leave (this is a particular type of leave set out in the Employment Relations Act 2000 to provide paid leave to certain employees to increase their knowledge about employment relations – usually union representatives)
An employer does not necessarily need to keep a separate document called a wages and time record, but must be able to easily access and provide the information listed above (e.g. obtaining information from an employee’s signed employment agreement and payroll system). So, we recommend employers ensure that they do have all of this information and that they can retrieve it easily if needed.
Employers are required to provide immediate access to an employee (or their authorised representative) to the wages and time record for the past 6 years. Employees can make a wage claim dating back 6 years. Accordingly, wages and time records must be kept for 6 years.
Failure to keep such records leaves an employer open to a penalty from the Employment Relations Authority and in a precarious position to defend a wage claim brought by an employee (or ex-employee). If the employer has not kept wages and time records, then unless it can otherwise prove that the employee’s claim is incorrect, the Authority may accept the employee’s claim as proved in respect of the wages actually paid and the hours, days and time worked.
If you’re worried about your wages and time records, book a no-obligation phone consultation to discuss: https://rachelwebster.co.nz/contact
