A Four Square supermarket in Thames and its owner have been fined $44,000 for violations related to migrant worker premiums.
The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) has ordered A Dharni Enterprises Ltd, trading as Four Square Martina, to pay a penalty of $32,000 and Jaswinder Singh, the sole director, a penalty of $12,000.
The decision came after the ERA found that the company had made two migrant workers pay a total of $120,000 in premiums to secure their jobs.
The two workers, who each paid $60,000, had family ties to Singh and entered New Zealand on Accredited Employer Work Visas (AEWV) in July and August 2023. The money was paid in India in seven instalments.
They only worked for the business briefly before leaving because Singh felt they had misrepresented their English ability during the recruitment process.
A Dharni Enterprises used the premiums to pay the employees’ own wages. According to the ERA, such an arrangement provided the company with a financial advantage, freeing up company money that would otherwise be used to pay those wages.
The workers filed a complaint in September 2023. The matter was initially investigated by Immigration Compliance and Investigations before being referred to the Labour Inspectorate for further action.
The Inspectorate’s migrant exploitation manager Natalie Gardiner said demanding money from migrant workers in return for employment is a serious breach of employment standards.
“Migrant workers have the same employment rights and protections as all other workers, regardless of where they come from.
“In this case, two workers were required to hand over a total of $120,000 for the promise of employment and the prospect of building a life in New Zealand. These unlawful premiums placed significant financial pressure on the workers and their families and undermined the integrity of New Zealand’s immigration and employment systems,” Gardiner said.
The money paid for the premiums was repaid to the workers by A Dharni Enterprises prior to the ERA hearing. They will each receive $1000 of the penalty paid by the company.
In addition, the company and Singh were ordered to jointly pay more than $7000 in costs to the Labour Inspectorate.
Earlier this year, the owner of a Four Square supermarket in Tauhara, Taupo, along with its former director, was fined more than $80,000 for exploiting several employees, including migrant workers.
