Foodstuffs North Island, which controls the FourSquare, New World and Pak’nSave brands, said the company was “shocked and deeply disappointed” by the findings in the decision.
“Exploitation of workers is unacceptable and will not be tolerated within our co-operative,” a spokesperson told NZME.
The order to pay up comes after the Labour Inspector filed a case against G&G Bolina, and its former director, Gurvinderpal Singh, who brought in the migrant workers.
Singh was one of the two company directors until December 2021. He was now a 50% shareholder.
The Labour Inspector filed a case against G&G Bolina Limited, trading as Four Square Tauhara, and its former director Gurvinderpal Singh for exploiting migrant workers. Google Maps/Screenshot
An earlier ERA ruling found Singh was personally involved in each of G&G Bolina’s breaches.
It was found that the company had breached the Employment Relations Act, Holidays Act, Minimum Wages Act and had also received a premium from one of the workers in breach of the Wages Protection Act.
The 23 breaches involved four employees, two of whom were the migrant workers, with the amount of unpaid entitlements for the employees totalling $28,139.24.
During the investigation, the Labour Inspector found that the two migrant workers worked five to seven days a week. The hours they worked each day ranged from 2 to 15, while the company’s records incorrectly showed they only worked five days a week and six hours a day.
G&G Bolina failed to pay one of the migrant workers for 358.47 hours she worked during September to December in 2023, depriving her of $8137.19 in wages, and the other for 351.46 hours he worked during October to December the same year, resulting in a loss of $7978.22 in wages.
Time records and start dates recorded for the two workers were incorrect, and the company also failed to pay the correct public and alternative holiday wages to them, as well as to the other two employees mentioned in the decision.
ERA authority member Rachel Lamer said Singh took advantage of the “inherent inequality of power in the employment relationship” by failing to pay the minimum wage for all hours worked to the employees.
“The Labour Inspector submitted that the inherent inequality of power in the employer/employee relationship is amplified in this case as the complainants were migrant workers, recently arrived in New Zealand, whose visa status was dependent on the respondents.”
Lamer said they were “vulnerable employees” on employment visas and seeking premiums from them was “egregious” as they were not familiar with New Zealand employment law.
“[They] were dependent on Bolina for their visa status to remain current, which made them particularly vulnerable to Bolina’s demands. This illustrated the imbalance of power the respondents held in this case.”
She said the migrant workers were treated differently from other workers at the Four Square, and undermining the acts gave G&G Bolina an unfair competitive advantage in the marketplace.
G&G Bolina was ordered to pay a $52,800 penalty to the Crown and Singh was to pay $27,840.
An earlier ERA decision held that the parties had resolved the claims for wage arrears and leave entitlements by agreement.
The Foodstuffs North Island spokesperson said the breaches fell well short of what was expected of anyone associated with the Foodstuffs North Island co-operative.
“It does not reflect our values, our Code of Conduct, or the standards of our owner-operator members.
“This case is a source of real disappointment to our owner-operator community, who overwhelmingly do the right thing and take their responsibilities to their teams seriously. Where behaviour does not meet our standards, we will act.”
The company had completed its own investigation and associated processes.
“We remain committed to continuously strengthening our systems and oversight and will review whether any further improvements can be made as a result of this case.”
Brianna McIlraith is a Queenstown-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the lower South Island. She has been a journalist since 2018 and has had a strong interest in business and financial journalism.