Background
You may, or may not, be aware that there has been considerable focus in recent years on how NZ businesses comply with the Holidays Act. C3 and subsidiaries are no exception and questions have been rightfully raised about our holiday pay compliance. This has resulted in an audit by the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment (MBIE). As a result of the audit, some potential breaches of the Holidays Act 2003 have been identified.
We want to ensure we remediate pays correctly and we have entered into an agreement with MBIE called an “Enforceable Undertaking” (EU) which outlines a broad scope of what matters require addressing. As part of the EU, C3 has undertaken a review of its payroll system,. The results of this review have been presented to the Labour Inspectorate and we are pleased to advise we can now commence correcting past leave payments that did not comply. We are not recovering overpayments.
The Process
Anyone who worked at C3 or a subsidiary at any time from 6 October 2012 to 5 October 2018 may be entitled to additional pay (if holiday pay was underpaid). We’re doing our best to contact former employees to let them know about this so that we can put things right.
We’re using the latest contact information we have on our files to contact ex staff wherever possible, but we do know some of this is no longer current.
We’ve set up an easy online process people can use to contact us to check if they’re owed anything.
Just submit a request and provide us with some information so that we can verify your identity, and we will check our records to see if a payment is owed.
If a payment is owed then it will be transferred to the nominated bank account.
Due to the expected high volume of requests, we are expecting the time to validate and respond may take up the 3 months.
Once you've submitted a claim, all further correspondence will be conducted via email. While we want to make this process as easy as possible, there may be occasions where the team need to request further information.
FAQ
Who is owed a payment?
You may be eligible for a payment if you were employed by C3 or a subsidiary at some time between 06 October 2012 and 5 October 2018.
Not all employees over that time were affected. The issues largely relate to employees who had fluctuating work patterns, worked additional hours ,or received some additional allowances.
Payment is owed where there is a difference between what was paid for the leave day, and what should have been paid if the correct calculation had been made. The total calculated is a gross amount, from which income tax will be deducted, in accordance with income tax requirements.
Inland Revenue is able to advise employees on the possible tax and other financial impacts of receiving payment.
For current employees, there is no need to submit a claim. Any money owed will be paid directly.
How do I check if I am entitled to payment?
Complete the online application and you will be notified if you're eligible.
How much will my payment be?
There is no easy answer to this, as everyone will be different depending on their circumstances. Payments will be dependent on a range of factors including how variable your weekly pays were, what kind of leave you took and how much leave you took. In some cases no money will be owed as leave was correctly calculated. We will let you know your payment once calculated.
When will the payments be backdated to?
05 October 2012 at the latest.
How can I claim on behalf of someone?
You will need to provide documentation to verify your identity and to confirm you are authorised to act on behalf of the estate or person.
Please complete the online registration form - claiming on behalf of a former C3 employee.