• By timehub
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  • 14 Jun 2021
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How can TimeHub help you meet your obligation to keep accurate Employee Records

An area often overlooked by employers is Record Keeping. 

Keeping accurate Time and Attendance records, which are easily accessible is a requirement of The Employment Relations and Holidays Acts. These acts require employers to maintain wage, time, holiday and leave records for their employees*

Employee records must be made available to employees, their unions and Labour Inspectors if they ask for them. They can be kept in electronic or paper files and must be kept for six years.

At the end of this post we will set out all the records an employer is required to keep, but as our focus is on how an electronic Time and Attendance system can help you meet this obligation we will cover those key areas here.

Many employers assume it is ok to record that the employee has worked a total of X hours in the pay period and in fact most payroll systems are designed this way. Very few track actual dates and hours worked.

So what are the requirements:

Among other things Wages and time records must include:
The hours worked each day, including start time, finish time and any non-paid breaks taken, and days of employment in each pay period.

While this could be covered by the use of a paper timesheet these records would be very hard to access quickly if required, whereas using a system such a TimeHub the data and the full history of the time records is easily accessed and reported on. 

There is also the obvious advantage that systems like TimeHub are rules based so all the calculations are performed for you and the data is electronically transferred to your payroll which improves accuracy. 

Holiday and leave records must include:
The dates any annual holiday, sick or bereavement leave was taken 

Once again it is not ok to simply track the fact that an employee has taken X hours or days leave in a pay period as your payroll system would dictate. There must be a record of the actual date and amount of time taken.

The key advantage of using an electronic Time and Attendance system in relation to these recordkeeping requirements is that records are automatically kept as a by-product of managing and paying your staff.  

For more information on this critical area of business. we suggest you visit Employment NZ

* Note: If an employer doesn’t keep all the accurate wage and time, holiday and leave records as required by the Employment Relations Act 2000 and the Holidays Act 2003:

  • the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) or a Labour Inspector may give them a penalty. This could be up to $50,000 for an individual; or for a company, the greater of $100,000 or three times the amount of the financial gain made, or

  • a Labour Inspector can issue an infringement notice for breach of the record keeping requirements (an infringement offence).

Here is the full list of records which must be kept.

Wages and time records must include:
• the employee’s name
• the employee’s age, if under 20 years
• the employee’s postal address
• the type of work the employee undertakes
• the type of employment agreement – individual or collective
• the title, expiry date and employee classification in any applicable collective agreement
• the hours worked each day, including start time, finish time and any non-paid breaks taken, and days of employment in each pay period.
• the wages paid each pay day and the method of calculation
• details of employment relations leave taken.

Holiday and leave records must include:
• the name of the employee
• the date employment commenced
• the days on which an employee works, if the information is relevant to entitlement or payment under the Holidays Act 2003
• the date the employee last became entitled to annual holidays
• the employee’s current entitlement to annual holidays
• the employee’s current entitlement to sick leave
• the dates any annual holiday, sick or bereavement leave was taken
• the amount of payment for any annual holidays, sick leave and bereavement leave taken
• the portion of any annual holidays that have been paid out in each entitlement year
• the date and amount of payment, in each entitlement year, for any annual holidays paid out
• the dates of and payment for any public holiday worked
• the number of hours worked on any public holiday
• the day or part of any public holiday agreed to be transferred, and the calendar day or period of 24 hours to which it has been transferred
• the date on which the employee became entitled to any alternative holiday for any public holiday worked
• the dates and payment of any public holiday or alternative holiday on which the employee did not work, but for which the employee had an entitlement to payment
• the cash value of board and lodgings provided
• the date of termination
• the amount of pay for holidays on termination

Holiday and leave records or the employee’s file should also include:
• any agreements to transfer holidays
• any requests to cash up annual holidays
• the anniversaries when the employee becomes entitled to condi ons under either minimum legal entitlements or additional provisions in the employment agreement.

An employee’s file should also include:
• a signed copy of the employment agreement with the employee or details of the collective agreement under which he or she has been employed
• a letter offering appointment
• evidence that the employee is entitled to work in New Zealand
• details of citizenship or work permits held
• a tax code declaration (IR330) completed by the employee
• a job description
• a personal profile
• an application form
• the employee’s personal information such as home contact details
• details of who to contact in case of an emergency
• details of the bank account to be credited with wages (if this is the agreed method of payment).

Employers should also keep copies of any requests regarding alternative holidays or requests to cash up annual holidays even if they were not agreed to.