Auckland Indian restaurant owner ordered to pay $400,000 for exploiting workers, forcing them to work 90 hours a week
An Auckland Indian restaurant and its former owner have been ordered to pay about $400,000 after authorities uncovered systematic exploitation of migrant workers, including forcing staff to work up to 90 hours a week while being paid only a fraction of that time.According to the New Zealand Herald, the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) found The Indian Taste Ltd and its former director Krishna Khandelwal to have committed multiple serious breaches of New Zealand employment laws.Under the decision, the restaurant must repay nearly $200,000 in back wages to seven affected workers. Khandelwal was also fined $177,300 for the violations, with another $35,000 in restitution to be split equally among employees.The case was investigated after multiple complaints were received between March and December 2024. The nine-month investigation found that workers were typically required to work 60 to 90 hours a week but were paid only about 30 hours.Some employees were asked to work without pay for one to two weeks when they first joined the company.The Labor Inspectorate’s Migration Exploitation Manager Sam Mills said affected workers were vulnerable to harm and being taken advantage of because many had limited English skills and little knowledge of New Zealand employment laws.“Workers are brutally exploited for the personal benefit of the company and its owners,” Mills said.“These violations were ongoing, deliberate and designed to exploit labor at illegal discounts.”A range of employment law breaches were uncovered, including failure to pay the minimum wage, unlawful deductions from wages, failure to provide annual leave and alternative holiday entitlements, charging workers premiums to secure employment, and failing to maintain accurate wage and leave records.ERA member Matthew Piper said Khandelwal ran the company and profited by paying workers less than they were entitled to.“As a shareholder of The Indian Taste, Mr. Khandelwal benefited financially by underpaying workers and in doing so failed to compete fairly with other businesses that provided similar products and complied with the law,” Piper said.The ERA found the impact on workers extends far beyond unpaid wages. Some people are forced to take out personal loans and borrow money at high interest rates while trying to support their families overseas.Mills said the penalty should serve as a warning to employers seeking to exploit vulnerable workers.
