Labour Court rejects Gunta Kreslina’s minimum-wage appeal

The Labour Court rejected mushroom harvester Gunta Kreslina’s appeal against Sheelin Mushrooms Ltd, finding her minimum-wage complaint was not well founded. The determination was signed on 28 July 2015. Kreslina said her pay fell below the national minimum wage when measured against the hours she worked. The company denied this. The Court found her records covered June to December 2013, outside the period it could consider. It also found that her evidence about her hours was vague and did not establish either underpayment or the amount of any shortfall. The company had no records showing compliance, and its witness could not explain the payslips. The Court said the employer’s record-keeping failure did not remove Kreslina’s responsibility to provide evidence supporting her claim. It affirmed the Rights Commissioner’s decision and disallowed the appeal.