Nail spas are among more than fifty employers placed on an immigration list. File photo.
Photo: 123RF
A charitable foundation, a church foundation and nail spas are among the businesses on an immigration list, a public register of employers has revealed.
Two men have also been banned for life from employing migrants after their offense landed them in court.
More than 50 employers have been fined since an immigration breach scheme was introduced in April to tackle offenses such as hiring people without visas.
A total of $196,000 in fines were imposed on the companies.
They ranged from $1,000 for individual employers to $15,000 for companies that had committed multiple violations.
The companies on that list including Waitatapia Station, Union Square Bistro & Bar in Martinborough, Food Envy and Windale Dairy Farm Limited Partnership.
Companies are automatically added to the immigration list, usually for six to twelve months.
But Tauranga contractor Jafar Kurisi will be permanently listed for exploiting four illegal migrant workers, one of whom shared a garage with 19 others for four months, without heating or insulation.
He underpaid them by thousands of dollars in wages and charged them $100 a week in rent and travel expenses for some to get to and from work.
Kaiapoi Domino’s pizza franchise owner Chang-Wei Tsao has also been banned for life for migrant exploitation. Investigators found that Tsao forced one employee to work past the expiration date of their visa and forced three others to work more than the 20 hours per week allowed by their student visas. He exploited another by demanding a premium for the job and paying too little wages and leave.
He is serving a ten-month house arrest.
Violations of breach notifications include employing people who breach their visa conditions or are in New Zealand unlawfully.
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) said agriculture, construction, hospitality and retail saw the most violations.
Occupational health and safety matters
“While we will still prosecute when we see serious breaches of immigration law, the introduction of breach fines provides a new avenue for fast, high-impact action,” said INZ spokesperson Michael Carley.
“We can now tackle non-compliance more efficiently and quickly, by ensuring employers comply with regulations and protecting migrants from exploitation.”
A separate stand-down list records actions taken following rulings by the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) in relation to New Zealand or migrant workers. Employers who violate labor standards cannot support visa applications for a certain period of time.
Panda Restaurant in the Auckland suburb of Browns Bay was closed for a year after the ERA was ordered to pay almost $300,000. An employee paid the company $116,000 for a job, but it then underpaid him.
Victoria Jeon, Joseph Jeon and Misun Leem – trustees of the Jesus Aroma Church Trust – were ordered to pay more than $164,000 after it emerged that two vulnerable migrant workers had been exploited.
The Port Hills Foundation Charitable Trust was ordered to pay compensation to two employees: one employee was dismissed without notice two days before Christmas after working for five weeks, and the second was dismissed before her job started – and who was allegedly paid for less than half. the minimum wage.
Employment New Zealand’s stand-down list includes more than 60 businesses, including Springs Junction Café and Motor Inn, Wanganui Ballet & Dance Academy, Elev 8 Skincare Academy and Beauty Clinic, Bestbase Construction Group, Happiness Angel Nail Spa, Loctun Deluxe Nail and Beauty.