Holiday-makers being paid "under the table" and being mistreated by employers is a big issue in Queenstown, the Citizens Advice Bureau says.
Chairwoman Kathy Buckham said three working-holiday visa-holders had contacted the bureau with issues in the past month.
"People without employment contracts are a big issue, particularly in bars and cafes. Often they are only here for a few months, so they just take it because it's not easy to get a job at the moment," she said.
One backpacker had been told by a Queenstown bar that she would not get the job if she insisted on having an employment contract.
Another had been working at a Queenstown bar for seven months and had received no contract, no pay slip, no holiday pay and no statutory pay.
The problems were always with working tourists, never New Zealanders, she said.
English backpacker Wenna Hicks complained to the Otago Daily Times about her treatment by a Queenstown employer who, allegedly, is still withholding about $300 in pay.
Shortly after arriving in Queenstown on a working-holiday visa on March 12, she started working as a breakfast waitress at a restaurant and said she was not asked for her IRD number.
"I started without being given a contract, as I was told I would be paid cash in hand, so there was no tax involved. Being desperate for work, I took this job," she said.
She was told she needed to look for another part-time job because there would not be enough hours for her and the restaurant was closing for the quiet period in May.
While seeking part-time employment she found a full-time position elsewhere.
"It was an immediate start, which I managed to give three days' notice to my current employer, although a very short notice, Queenstown being itself, it is probably to be expected," she said.
When she went to get her last week's pay, the employer told her she would not be paid.
"He claimed that he didn't need to pay me as I didn't give two weeks' notice and I had let him down," she said.
Both the Citizens Advice Bureau and the Department of Labour told her she did not have to give notice, as she had been in employment for less than a month.
"I just feel that it is taking advantage of the tourists who come here looking for work ... I hope any other tourists who get this same treatment, should speak out, as after all, it is us tourists who bring in most of the trade here," she said.
A spokesman for the restaurant said Ms Hicks did not supply her IRD number and only gave one day's notice before she left.
He said he would give her her final pay once tax was deducted, which he could not do until she gave him her IRD number.
"You get this all the time. Transient people start and then [leave] after two weeks," he said.
Department of Labour spokesman Colin Patterson said employers were not allowed to make deductions from employees' pay without written consent, even those without written contracts.
"She [Ms Hicks] is entitled to her pay. Employers cannot withhold pay. She should contact the Work Place Contact Centre and a labour inspector can investigate," he said.
