Current $20-per-week payment will take approximately 57 years for full repayment, ERA hears
An Auckland-based employer has been ordered to pay nearly $60,000 in wages, compensation and costs in full after the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) rejected its proposal to repay the sum through instalments of $20 a week.
The dispute stems from a determination issued in November 2025, in which the ERA ordered Kippers East Limited to pay Yuanxiang Yang around $21,000 in wages and holiday pay, along with $10,000 in compensation under the Employment Relations Act 2000.
His wife, Wenjuan Yang, was awarded roughly $11,500 in wages and holiday pay, plus a further $10,000 in compensation. Penalties were also ordered, payable to both applicants and the Crown.
A second determination in March 2026 awarded the couple a further $8,071.55 in costs and filing fees. Under both rulings, payment was due within 28 days.
Instead of complying, the respondents began making part payments of $20 a week into the applicants' joint bank account from January 12, 2026.
According to the determination, by the time of the ERA's ruling, "approximately $480 has been paid to the applicants, out of a total amount of some $57,000."
The applicants objected, stating they had never agreed to instalment payments, and sought compliance orders for payment in full.
The respondents argued they lacked the cash flow to pay a lump sum, citing four dependent children, a mortgage, and no savings or access to borrowing, while also making separate weekly payments of $50 towards a $2,000 penalty owed to the Crown.
Inadequate instalment plan
ERA member Claire English found that non-compliance had occurred regardless of the payment plan.
"The respondent's failure to pay in full by the date required by the Authority amounts to non-compliance, regardless of the respondent's attempts to set up a payment plan," English said in the ruling.
The ERA also took issue with the pace of the proposed repayments, as full payment would take "2,978 weeks or approximately 57 years" if the payment stays at $20 a week.
English agreed the offer was inadequate, writing that the respondents had not provided any supporting financial information about their assets or cash flow.
"The proposal to pay at the rate of $20 per week can only be described as a low offer in all the circumstances," she said.
She further noted that the slow repayment rate "effectively deprives the applicants of the fruits of their success," which she considered particularly concerning given that a large proportion of the amounts awarded represented unpaid wages and holiday pay to which the applicants were statutorily entitled.
The ERA declined to set an alternative instalment rate, noting neither party had proposed one, and stated that any claimed inability to pay was "a matter for any subsequent enforcement action."
Kippers East Limited was ordered to pay Yuanxiang Yang $34,921.67 and Wenjuan Yang $24,629.33, less amounts already paid, within 28 days, along with the $8,071.55 costs award, made jointly in the couple's favour.
