Personal liability means no escape from paying staff, says Labour Inspectorate
(from The Migrant Times; the original story is here https://themigranttimes.org.nz/stories/2017/2/8/personal-liability-means-no-escape-from-paying-staff-says-labour-inspectorate?rq=personal)
The Labour Inspectorate has successfully applied to have ‘company officers’ made personally liable for $138,836 in arrears over the last month, after the companies went into liquidation. One case was when wife of a Nando’s franchisee, Corrado Ramada, was found liable in November for the $70,053 in arrears that the company owed in unpaid wages and holiday pay, when the company was liquidated and the director was declared bankrupt. Another case was of the Indian retail clothing stores Khoobsurat Collections/ Naari Collections.
The two separate cases were taken by the Labour Inspectorate who proved that the company officers had directed or authorised the default in payment, under section 234 of the Employment Relations Act - which ensures that minimum employment entitlements are available to employees, even in situations where the employing companies are insolvent or otherwise unable to pay.