A Bay of Plenty kiwifruit labour supply company and its director have been ordered to pay $100,000 in penalties after underpaying three migrant workers tens of thousands over several years.
The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) ordered Asad Horticulture Limited to pay $70,000, and sole director Mohammad Asaduzzaman $30,000, for breaching minimum employment standards and being in arrears with paying owed holiday pay entitlements.
Asaduzzaman and the company, placed into liquidation in August, must each pay the penalties in quarterly $5000 instalments.
MBIE lead inspector for strategic alignment and primary sector Kevin Finnegan said while the company had taken responsibility for the breaches, it took three years before workers received their owed wages.
“We do not hesitate to take enforcement action when it is justified, as it was in this case where three vulnerable workers were owed over $40,000 in holiday entitlements.”
Following an agreement with the Labour Inspectorate, the company and Asaduzzaman have paid the affected employees $45,170.13 in arrears.
The Labour Inspector involved in the case said the workers were temporary visa holders and, as such, were vulnerable, the money owed was significant, and the record-keeping breaches were “systemic”.
According to MBIE, ERA member Andrew Dallas said mitigating factors in deciding the penalties included a willingness to participate in mediation, an agreement upon arrears of wages, and payment of these in full were mitigating factors.
“However full payment was not achieved for three years from the complaint being made and should be considered ‘late performance of duty’ rather than being seen as an act of contrition.”
Non-publication request declined
An application for permanent non-publication orders for the company and its director were declined by the ERA.
Finnegan said: “The authority is bound by the presumption of ‘open justice’.
“While there may be occasions where this presumption can and, indeed, probably should be departed from, this is not one of them.
“There is the utmost public interest in compliance with, and the enforcement of, minimum employment standards. Conduct of the type evidenced in this determination should not be shielded from the public gaze by legal nicety.
“While it is appreciated that publication may be disconcerting for others closely associated with him, he must, however, take full, and untrammelled through publication, responsibility for a state of affairs of his own creation.”
