One year after taking his case for unpaid wages, Anil Verma received $ 75,000

Last year Anil Verma was broke, desperate, and threatened with deportation.

He fought his employer, the fiber installation company S-Net Technologies, taking a case to the Labor Relations Authority (ERA).

Immigration NZ walked away from the threat of deportation, allowing him to stay in New Zealand while fighting his case.

This month, almost a year after filing his claim, Anil Verma won. The ERA has ordered S-Net Technologies to pay it more than $ 75,000, upholding Verma’s claims in all respects.

ERA authority member Vicki Campbell ruled that S-Net Technologies must pay Verma $ 32,471 in unpaid wages, $ 5,407 for non-payment of vacation and $ 6103 for illegal deductions from his wages.

READ MORE:
* ‘I have no hope’: a penniless migrant who depends on food banks after the boss doesn’t pay
* No work, no pay: the unhappy story of Sitaram Mukkumala in New Zealand
* Vicious Circle: Why are some Indian immigrants so exploited in New Zealand?

S-Net was also instructed to pay $ 10,320 for wrongful termination and $ 15,000 in compensation. There were additional fines of $ 5000 against the company and $ 2000 personally against S-Net’s sole director and shareholder, Shepherd Ndarowa.

The ERA stated that Ndarowa “aided and abetted” the violations, giving Verma’s defender Nathan Santesso a rare legal avenue to personally pursue him for the money, if S-Net Technologies is liquidated.

Santesso said he was confident he could get most of the money back. The award was significant for its size and the rare permission to personally pursue a director, Santesso said.

But Verma was less optimistic, saying he feared that Ndarowa, a native of Zimbabwe, could skip the country. “I don’t know what will happen next,” he said. “I have no confidence [he will pay]. The ERA has made this statement, but I still don’t think it is taking it seriously. “

Verma has been unable to work for 18 months as her visa remains linked to S-Net. Employers were reluctant to commit to transferring a linked work visa and appealed to Immigration for an open work visa on compassionate grounds.

Verma has survived on the earnings of his wife, Sujarta, an esthetician, and the support of migrant and community groups, and Stuff readers, after speaking in October 2019 about her treatment.

Verma worked for S-Net between April 2017 and March 2019, installing fiber internet in contracts that stipulated a minimum workweek of 80 hours. But he said he was often left sitting at home, despite asking for work, and that he sometimes got as little as 10 hours of work a week.

The Campbell ruling said Ndarowa claimed that Verma was repeatedly absent from work, but dismissed that evidence as unreliable and said it was more likely that these were days when Verma was “just not offered a job.”

The decision said Ndarowa acknowledged making mistakes and admitted that he had not given Verma the contracted hours of work.

He said Ndarowa also admitted recovering money from Verma by requiring him to repay the difference between his hired hourly rate, at one stage, $ 21.50, and the minimum wage, then $ 15.50.

Verma was also told to pay for her own job advertisements, about $ 280, needed to prove there were no suitable New Zealanders available for the job before renewing her visa.

The ERA ruled that Verma’s dismissal constituted an unjustified dismissal because it was motivated by “ulterior motives”. There was no notice or formal process and it came after Verma complained about his unpaid wages and rejected a request for forgiveness of his back wages.

An additional compensation order was influenced by Verma’s evidence of stress, financial hardship and a threatening phone call that Ndarowa denied making.

Campbell agreed that Ndarowa had “procured” the violations, so he could be personally prosecuted for the money if S-Net was liquidated.

S-Net has been inactive since the company that had the fiber installation contract, Visionstream, terminated its subcontract in September 2019. Ndarowa told the ERA that it “went under. [him] in economic difficulties from which he has not yet recovered ”. He was currently not employed and had to sell his house.

Property records show that Ndarowa sold his Pokeno home in April for $ 1,091 million (he had bought it for $ 335,000 in November 2015).

By email, Ndarowa said he was “still going through” the determination. “I am still seeking advice on determination and the ways that Mr. Verma can be paid.” You have the right to appeal to the Labor Court.

“What I can say at this point is that Mr. Verma has known the truth from the day I met him. I wish the public [would] I know the hidden truth about what has been happening behind the scenes during my time with Mr. Verma.

“Never in my life did I have the intention of exploiting anyone. Rather, Mr. Verma knows why it all came to this. Learn the truth behind this whole case.

“During my time as a contractor, the workload fluctuated. Sometimes it was difficult to do 80 hours a fortnight. Mr. Verma was fully aware of this. I couldn’t even pay myself. ”

Ndarowa said he had a verbal agreement with Verma that he would receive the minimum wage, and that the higher wage in his contract was simply a ruse to make sure he was complying with immigration regulations and “would really help him stay in New Zealand.” .

He said that when he told Verma that he could no longer keep him at his full-time job, he felt “betrayed” and complained.

Sunny Sehgal of the Migrant Rights Network, who had assisted Verma, said “justice was delayed, but it was not denied.”

Sehgal said Immigration NZ should be applauded for the “compassion” it has shown in extending the visas of Verma and his wife for the duration of the case.

“This case will give hope to all those migrants who are exploited, but never speak up because they have no faith in the system.

“This is an encouragement for all migrants not to worry in front of the media and to highlight any breach of minimum employment standards. This is the only way we can make New Zealand the best place for everyone to live. “

In a statement, Visionstream NZ CEO Jim Tocher said his company “had done everything [its] power ”to support Verma. He had provided emergency financial support, paid for training, advocated with Immigration NZ about his visa, and provided Verma with a job offer with another contractor.

Verma said Visionstream’s new job offer never materialized and the company did not defend it with Immigration NZ. The department also said it had no record of a Visionstream intervention for Verma.

Tocher said the company had provided the same support to 30 other visa workers who needed a new job. The company took a “hard line” regarding labor law violations, “systematically auditing” subcontractors and did not hesitate to fire non-compliant ones, including S-Net.

Although it threatened to deport Verma last year, Immigration NZ said it only learned in July this year from Verma that he was no longer employed by S-Net. The department was waiting for him to request a variance to his visa. The officials had “been in contact with representatives of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions regarding the situation of Mr. Verma.”