The owners of Area 41, an Italian restaurant in New Plymouth, have been fined $60,000 after charging a migrant worker $16,000 for a job and underpaying him by requiring a portion of his wages back, Stuff has reported.. The Labour Inspectorate launched an investigation after receiving a complaint in August 2021, uncovering serious exploitation of four employees by Dilkhush PVT Limited (DPL), operated by directors Jaswant Dham and Pushkar Junnare.
One of the workers revealed that between 2018 and 2021, he was forced to pay $16,000 to secure his job and was then required to repay part of his wages because the restaurant owners deemed the $21 per hour minimum wage too high. This violated visa conditions set by Immigration New Zealand and contravened the Minimum Wage Act and Holidays Act.
The Labour Inspectorate found that Dham and Junnare had exploited the power imbalance in the employment relationship, intentionally gaining financial benefits by underpaying their staff. The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) described the arrangement as "cynical" and "exploitative," with ERA member Geoff O'Sullivan noting the increased vulnerability of migrant workers dependent on employment for their visas.
While Dham and Junnare acknowledged their wrongdoing, the company still owes $26,407.88 in outstanding wages. Despite claims of financial hardship in the hospitality industry, ERA imposed a $40,000 penalty on the company and a $20,000 fine on Dham and Junnare. The Labour Inspectorate had initially sought fines totalling $150,000.
Simon Humphries, Head of the Labour Inspectorate, emphasized that the directors exploited their workers' vulnerabilities and intentionally withheld their minimum entitlements for financial gain. "The fact that they have repaid some of the outstanding wages does not excuse their exploitative behaviour," he said.