One in four farm workers do not have a written employment
contract and farmers have been told to get their paperwork in
order.
Thousands of farmers could face fines of thousands of dollars
each, if they were caught.
The information was revealed in a Federated Farmers/Rabobank
farm employee remuneration report, the Southland Times
reported.
Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean called on the farm employers who did
not have written employment agreements with their workers to
"do the right thing and get (your) paperwork in order".
Federated Farmers president Don Nicolson said it was a worry
to see so many farm businesses so exposed by not having
written employment contracts.
"While good to see 9 percent more farm businesses becoming
compliant over the past year, there's still this huge hole."
Fault lay on both sides, with a responsibility on the farmers
to ensure the agreements were in place and on the workers to
ask for them, he said.
Invercargill employment law expert Sarah McKenzie said it was
illegal to hire a worker without a written agreement, with
companies facing fines of up to $10,000 and individual bosses
facing fines of up to $5000 for doing so.
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