A Southland dairy farm, owned by a prominent imam and dairy farmer has been fined a total of $215,000 for exploiting three migrant workers from Indonesia.
The workers were subjected to various employment violations, including not receiving minimum wage or holiday pay, manipulated payslips, unlawful wage deductions, and failure to maintain accurate wage records.
One worker alerted authorities in December 2020 after experiencing issues with pay and days off, as well as the refusal to return his passport.
An investigation revealed none of the employees were paid correctly, and illegal payslip deductions were made. The Employment Relations Authority also found the Imam, Reza Abdul-Jabbar, who was also a religious advisor to one of the workers, deliberately disregarded employment laws.
Speaking to state media, MBIE head of compliance and enforcement Simon Humphries said the workers had came to New Zealand in search of a better life but, ‘they were taken advantage of by those they trusted. This was deliberate and systemic exploitation.
‘The penalties imposed demonstrates the serious nature of the breaches and sends a clear message to business owners who choose to exploit their workers for financial gain. There will be consequences,’ said Humphries.
Image credit: Christina Maiia
Darleen Tana, you’re next.
Ha, similar exploitation happened in my neighbourhood, where a Sikh immigrant used his family and friends to run several bottleshops.
Feels like these people carry their exploitative business practices into New Zealand.
Maybe they need to go back to where they come from, instead of spoiling our ‘fair go’ NZ culture.