A Nelson-based restaurant, Zara’s Turkish Kebabs and Cafe, has been ordered by the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) to compensate three former employees a total of $30,886.44.
This amount covers unpaid wages, holiday pay, and interest accrued from 2014 to 2018. The ruling highlighted that the employees were not paid for work performed between the restaurant’s lunch and dinner services—a time they spent preparing food and maintaining the premises.
The owner, Omer Akbaba of Mirac Limited, was found to have falsified timesheets by omitting these hours, leading to wage discrepancies.
In addition to the wage arrears, Mirac Limited faces $18,000 in penalties for multiple breaches including violations of the Holidays Act, failing to pay the minimum wage, and not maintaining proper wage and time records.
Akbaba personally has been penalised an additional $9,000. The ERA emphasised the vulnerability of the affected employees, who were migrant workers unfamiliar with New Zealand’s labour laws.
Simon Humphries of the Labour Inspectorate told state media the case should act as a deterrent against the exploitation of workers, praising the courage of the employees whose complaints initiated the investigation and subsequent legal actions.
Image credit: Anima Visual
Lemme fix that for you: Simon Humphries of the Labour Inspectorate told state media the case should act as a deterrent against the exploitation of workers by employers who have obviously not integrated into NZ’s fair go ways.