Former Gloriavale residents describe exhausting work conditions

Former Gloriavale residents have described exhausting work conditions at the isolated community, as the Government encourages others to come forward with any complaints.

It comes after a recent WorkSafe investigation found no evidence of mismanagement at the site.

But some believe a wide-ranging inquiry is still needed for the 600 residents, with allegations that law breaking is being kept well hidden.

James Harrison, along with his wife and 15 children, found peace managing a dairy farm in Canterbury.

Even though he still wakes by 5am, his days are now a lot shorter than those he remembers at Gloriavale.

At Gloriavale, he says, children start working from the age of five and once adults, work 15 hours a day, five days a week, with nine-hour days at the weekends.

“They don’t get any meaningful time off, no public holidays are taken, no annual leave, no rostered days off – nothing,” Harrison told 1 NEWS.

Last month, WorkSafe investigated allegations that Gloriavale was not managing the risk of fatigue in the workplace.

Thirteen people were spoken to but the health and safety agency found there was no evidence to support the claims.

“The community is a faith-based community and people are entitled to their freedom of religion and that has to be respected," Workplace Relations Minister Andrew Little says.

"But where people are being employed to do work of a commercial nature, then we have to make sure that employment standards are maintained."

Little says investigations will continue at Gloriavale, looking into whether those who live there are in fact volunteers, as the leaders claim - a move ex-members say is to avoid employment laws.

Civil proceedings have been filed at the High Court to remove the trustees for poor conduct and mismanagement.

National is supporting a wide ranging inquiry into Gloriavale, Labour is not.

Little says if there are practices within the community that don't comply with the law, “particularly employment law then we have to deal with that as well, so I think we've made a start”.