The owner of a Four Square supermarket in Tauhara, Taupo, along with its former director, has been fined more than $80,000 for exploiting several employees, including migrant workers.

G&G Bolina Ltd, trading as Four Square Tauhara, brought in unskilled migrant workers from overseas in 2023, according to the ruling by the Employment Relations Authority (ERA).

Two migrant workers were asked to pay a $10,000 premium to G&G Bolina to secure their jobs. The two workers were also underpaid and overworked.

An earlier ERA ruling also found that the company had breached the Employment Relations Act, Holidays Act, Minimum Wages Act and Wages Protection Act.

The 23 breaches involved four employees, including the two migrant workers, with the amount of unpaid entitlements totalling more than $28,139.

The fine comes after the Labour Inspector filed a case against G&G Bolina and its former director, Gurvinderpal Singh.

Singh, who was one of the two company directors until December 2021, was personally involved in each of G&G Bolina’s breaches.

The Labour Inspector previously found that the two migrant workers worked up to 15 hours a day for five to seven days a week. The company’s records incorrectly showed they worked only six hours a day for five days a week.

The company also failed to pay the correct public and alternative holiday wages to them and to the other two employees mentioned in the decision.

As per the decision, G&G Bolina was ordered to pay a $52,800 penalty to the Crown, and Singh was to pay $27,840.

Foodstuffs North Island, which owns the FourSquare banner, told NZME it was “shocked and deeply disappointed” by the findings in the decision.

“Exploitation of workers is unacceptable and will not be tolerated within our co-operative,” a spokesperson said.

“We remain committed to continuously strengthening our systems and oversight and will review whether any further improvements can be made as a result of this case,” he added.