More than half the complaints made by Wanaka residents to the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) about the wage subsidy have been deemed worthy of further investigation, but Wanaka’s chamber of commerce, Ignite, says the complaints are likely to arise from confusion rather than deception.

MBIE has recorded 12 complaints from Wanaka, related to the employer not passing on the wage subsidy to employees, an MBIE spokesperson told the Wanaka App.

Of the 12 complaints, three were resolved by providing the employee and the employer with information on the wage subsidy rules, and three were closed because they were either a repeat complaint, there was not enough information, or MBIE was not able to make further contact with the complainant.

A further complaint was resolved through mediation.

Two complaints have been referred to the Ministry of Social Development for review, and three more complaints are still being processed.

The Wanaka App is aware of a worker who claimed their employer applied for more staff than they had, using old IRD numbers, and failed to pass on the subsidy to existing employees.

Some local workers claim their employers have kept the lion’s share of the wage subsidies for themselves.

Another worker claimed their employer only passed on $50 of the wage subsidy. Some young part time workers claim they have only been paid a few dollars a week, despite their employer having claimed for the full part time subsidy.

Ignite executive officer Naomi Lindsay told the Wanaka App the chamber had not heard of any issues locally, and she believes the concerns may be the result of confusion rather than deception.

"Since the start of the local response to COVID-19, Ignite Wanaka, along with LWT [Lake Wanaka Tourism], joined forces with our Queenstown counterparts and council's ED team to form the Southern Lakes Response & Recovery Group.

We have been sharing messages, providing support to businesses and ensuring they, and their employees, have access to the right information as it becomes available.”

The wage subsidy was launched under an "honesty" policy approach outlined by finance minister Grant Robertson. Guidelines were provided on how to apply for the subsidy and how the subsidy should be paid to employees. 

The government said it wanted to hear from anyone who believed their employer was not passing the subsidy on. The government also launched a company search register.

Naomi said Ignite encouraged any employee who feels their employer has acted inappropriately to follow the correct process to achieve resolution.

“As with anything, there are individual cases that may have seen employees not receiving the subsidy correctly,” she said. 

If an employee believes their employer has not acted within the law they should first contact their employer. If the issue is not resolved they should seek further legal advice or contact Employment NZ and act as per the employment contract in resolving disputes with an employer. 

Citizens Advice offers free legal advice for those who aren't in a position to pay for legal support.

Naomi said the chamber understands it can be difficult to interpret new rules, so employers are encouraged to use their legal and HR channels of support when looking at wage subsidies and other employment relation matters. COVID-19 does not allow employers to act outside of the law.

Community Law chief executive Sue Moroney told Radio New Zealand last week that there has been a problem with how the wage subsidy has been applied by employers.

“Far too many workers have been denied access to the wage subsidy because their employers have either made them redundant or scaled them instead of giving them access to the wage subsidy,” she said, adding this has had a particular impact on migrant workers.

PHOTOS: Wanaka App