Sarabjit Singh worked for Fresh Vibe cafe in Dargaville from July 2015 until April 2016.

A manager "left to her own devices" sent a full-time cafe worker home early on quiet days without realising she still had to pay him.

The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) has ordered the cafe to pay him nearly $20,000 in wage arrears.

Sarabjit Singh worked for Fresh Vibe cafe in Dargaville from July 2015 until April 2016.

But Singh claimed he only received $150 each week in cash, despite being contracted to work 40 hours a week at $18 per hour.

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The ERA said because the owner of Fresh Vibe cafe, Ben Singh Holdings, was based in Auckland, manager Payal Kumar was "left to her own devices in terms of managing the cafe".

Although there was a dispute about Singh's start and end date of employment, the ERA recorded the date his first pay was sent to Inland Revenue and the last, based on a frequent customer's account.

Although Singh was contractually entitled to be paid for 40 hours a week, Kumar acknowledges that he was not.

Kumar thought Singh only had to be paid for the hours he worked so occasionally she would send him home, without pay, if the cafe was quiet.

The ERA said his employer could send him home early but could not deduct his pay without his agreement.

Kumar said there were no records of the cash payments because the ledger that recorded the payments was allegedly stolen during a break-in.

Singh was employed under a work visa and it was on the basis of this employment agreement with a specified minimum number of 40 hours work per week that Immigration New Zealand granted Singh the permit.

The ERA said there was nothing in the employment agreement that allowed Fresh Vibes to reduce or vary Singh's hours of work without his agreement.

"I find that Mr Singh did not agree to work less than 40 hour or to be paid less than his contractual entitlements," the ERA said in its judgment.

"I am therefore satisfied on the balance of probabilities that Mr Singh is owed wage arrears because he was not paid for at least 40 hours for every week he worked."

Singh should have been paid at least $28,800 (being $720 per week for 40 weeks) over the period he was employed but was only paid $13,554.

The ERA has ordered Singh receive an additional $15,246 and $4329 in unpaid public and annual holiday entitlements.

Although Kumar represented Fresh Vibe, as she was only the manager and not a director or owner, the ERA said Ben Singh Holdings, the operator of the cafe, was liable for Singh's remedies.