Two Brothers Wholesale Limited, trading as Thirsty Liquor Tokoroa, has lost its licence following “systematic non-compliance with employment laws”.
The South Waikato District Licensing Committee has declined their application for a liquor license renewal following objections raised by several parties and evidence presented by the Labour Inspectorate.
In the verdict delivered on 28 January 2021, the Licensing committee recorded, “there has been a strong evidence …of the deception and/or absence of record keeping, deliberating rostering workers off on statutory days, the non-payment of holiday pay, overtime rates and over working and under recording of hours worked.”
According to ‘Opencorporates’ public records, Jaspreet Singh and Taranjeet Singh are the two directors of this company.
Taranjeet Singh was reportedly “removed as a director in July 2020 but still retained a 50% shareholding in the company,” as submitted in their renewal application, and now operates the ‘un-licenced’ Bader Street Mini-Market in Hamilton.
Apart from Thirsty Liquor Tokoroa, the company also owns and operates three other licensed premises, viz Blackbull Liquor Tokoroa, Trees Tavern Tokoroa and Thirsty Liquor Ford Road, Rotorua. The company was reportedly stripped off their Four Square franchise after a worker made a complaint against them.
The Labour Inspectorate investigated the company after receiving a complaint from a former employee related to minimum employment standards.
The Inspector identified systemic non-compliance with employment laws by Two Brothers over a five year period. This included severe deficiencies in record keeping, staff rostering, provision for staff welfare breaks and inadequate payment for hours worked, holiday pay and the taking of holidays. The employer was issued an Improvement Notice requiring them to remediate the breaches but failed to do this, despite being granted two extensions.
The Licensing Committee also heard that the business provided no formal staff training to employees and required them to work long shifts alone, without adequate support or proper rest and meal breaks, putting them at risk of fatigue.
The Committee believed that renewing the license could be detrimental to the vulnerable populations in the Tokoroa community. The business must cease the display and sale of alcohol two months from the date of the decision.
Labour Inspectorate Retail Sector Strategy Lead, Loua Ward says the Inspectorate is pleased with this outcome. “Liquor retail is a focus area for the Inspectorate as part of the wider retail sector strategy…It is unacceptable for employers to continually and intentionally breach employment law, undermining employees’ rights and undercutting other businesses in the industry,” she says.
