Hoping for some advice from people who know NZ employment law better than I do.
I resigned from a small company earlier this year after months of inconsistent wage payments, including no wages at all for the first few months of 2026. When I resigned, my employer sent me a final accounts letter with figures I disagreed with. I sent a detailed written response identifying several errors, including incorrect student loan deductions, PAYE discrepancies, a missing ACC levy, and unpaid annual leave. On top of that, the employer never set up a proper payroll system and I never received a single payslip for the entire time I worked there.
The amount owed is significant.
I gave the employer a deadline to respond. No response. I then filed a formal complaint with the MBIE Labour Inspectorate. That was about two weeks ago and I haven't heard anything from them either. I'm so broke and dont have any money to hire a lawyer.
My questions are:
- How long does MBIE typically take to acknowledge or action a complaint?
- Is there anything else I should be doing in the meantime, like the Employment Relations Authority?
- Does the fact that no payroll system was set up, and no payslips were ever issued, strengthen my complaint at all?
- I also have IRD involved given the payroll concerns. Does that run parallel to the MBIE process or does one take priority?
Any experience with this process would be really helpful, thanks.