A former kiwifruit labour contractor in Bay of Plenty and its former owner have received severe financial penalties for exploiting six migrant workers.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) said today that Raj Kiwi was penalised $160,000, and former shareholder and director Rajsekar Chellappa was also individually penalised $70,000 for 49 employment standard breaches.
Raj Kiwi has also been ordered to pay wage arrears to the six workers, totalling more than $26,000.
Those includes breaches of minimum wages, holiday pay, not keeping records and not having employment agreements.
Labour Inspectorate Horticulture sector lead Kevin Finnegan said "the offending was blatant" and said the offences were "at the worst end of migrant exploitation.
"But it could have been even worse - the Inspectorate continues to encourage anyone who believes their employment rights are in breach to come forward, and that is what happened here - the complainants came forward to the MBIE help line," Finnegan said.
"Kiwifruit body Zespri also acted quickly after receiving similar complaints, and following discussion with the Inspectorate, immediately suspended Raj Kiwi's contractor certification.
"This allowed the Inspectorate to immediately and effectively investigate the breaches.
"It is actions like this from Zespri that automatically shows the sector and its supply chains that employers like Raj Kiwi are a red flag to anyone doing business with them, or buying their services.
"Any business continuing to do so also puts their own reputation at serious risk."
In 2019, a subsidiary of Chellappa, Raj Infotech, was ordered to pay almost $30,000 by the Employment Relations Authority in wage arrears and penalties, after they ended a migrant IT workers job and offered them a job picking kiwifruit instead.
Anyone concerned about their own employment status or the actions of their employers can call the MBIE contact centre on 0800 20 90 20.
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