A company that refused to pay an accountant whose work had cost the business NZD 30,000 (USD 18,347) has been ordered by a tribunal to hand over the man’s unpaid wages, reports MSN. The assistant accountant was hired through a recruitment firm in 2022 in a temporary position spanning approximately six months before his contract was extended, and then terminated. The company, which was not named in the recently published Disputes Tribunal ruling, didn’t pay the man’s last five invoices totalling NZD 14,000 (USD 8,565).

The recruitment firm took the company to the tribunal hoping to have those wages paid to its client, but the company counter-claimed for NZD 30,000 (USD 18,347), which is the amount it says its former employee cost it in mistakes. The company said the recruitment firm misrepresented the man’s abilities, while the agency says any vetting should have been done by the employer before it hired the man.

Tribunal referee Elizabeth Paton-Simpson agreed with the recruiter and noted that the company opted to extend the man’s contract in November 2022 even after issues with his work had emerged. The company submitted that the man didn’t do the work that was set for him and was instead doing his own personal study in his last two weeks of employment. They also said he left many of their accounts unpaid while duplicating payments on other accounts, made incorrect journal entries, entered into duplicate foreign exchange contracts that turned out to be unfavourable and failed to complete bank reconciliations.. Paton-Simpson said in her ruling, “The contract does not specify the work to be achieved, only the hours to be worked.”