Auckland restaurant Saaj Indian Cuisine was sentenced to pay nearly $ 50,000 for exploiting a migrant worker

An Auckland restaurant and its owners have been ordered to pay nearly $ 50,000 in fines and unpaid wages to a migrant worker.

The Labor Relations Authority (ERA) found that Dansan Investments Ltd, which operates as Saaj Indian Cuisine, and its two directors, Mary George Varghese and Sheik Abdul Kader, were responsible for $ 32,000 owed in wage arrears.

A third of the $ 16,100 in fines will be paid directly to the exploited worker, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) said today.

After an investigation by the Labor Inspectorate into Dansan Investments, the ERA heard how the worker was told to make a premium payment of $ 6000 to employers to obtain an application for her work visa.

He borrowed money from friends to pay employers, under threat that the work visa application would not be supported without payment.

“This is yet another example of an employer using his position of power to exploit a migrant worker, who is dependent on him for a work visa and his right to continue living and working in New Zealand,” said Stu Lumsden, manager National Labor Inspectorate.

Lumsden said that migrants should never have to pay a “premium” or any additional costs to obtain a work visa from their employers.

“For employers to demand such a payment is illegal,” he said. “The ERA also made it very clear that these types of offenses will not be tolerated.”

MBIE said the employment contract showed that the worker would work a minimum of 35 hours a week, and although she worked between 40 and 65.5 hours a week, she was only paid between 28 and 33 hours.

There were also no vacation payments and time and a half to work on holidays.

Lumsden said Dansan Investments also had no clear salary records.

“This required the investigation to obtain alternative evidence, in this case the use of public transport travel logs, to refute Dansan’s claim that he did not work at the restaurant during those times.”

This was not the first time that Dansan Investments has been investigated by the Labor Inspectorate. In 2015, a former employee complained about not paying the minimum fees and the inspection issued an improvement notice, which the company did not comply with.

Anyone who is concerned about the employment situation on their own or someone they know can call the MBIE contact center on 0800 20 90 20.