Source: Radio New Zealand
Sneha Patel either did not pay the employees at all, or at a rate less than the minimum wage for the hours they worked. File photo. 123RF
A Hamilton woman has been sentenced to 11 months home detention for exploiting three migrant workers and failing to pay them thousands of dollars in wages.
Sneha Patel owned and operated several Hamilton and Auckland based businesses and pleaded guilty last year to nine charges including exploiting illegal or temporary employees.
She has been ordered to pay the three victims just under $50,000 in reparation.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment said the sentencing was a result of a complex five-year investigation.
It uncovered that Patel had failed to pay approximately $41,000 under the Minimum Wage Act and about $9000 for entitlements under the Holidays Act to three employees over an eight-month period in 2018.
MBIE national manager immigration investigations Jason Perry said Patel knowingly employed and helped a person to remain unlawfully in the country, intentionally mistreated and misled her workers, and provided false or misleading information to Immigration for a visa application.
The employees were required to work long hours and one had to sleep in a work vehicle or on the floor of a storeroom.
Patel either did not pay the employees at all, or at a rate less than the minimum wage for the hours they worked.
“While failing to pay her workers according to their statutory minimum entitlements, Patel chose to purchase and open a further two businesses. Employers and individuals who think they can take advantage of unlawful or temporary workers for their own financial gain should know this will not be tolerated – they will be investigated and held to account,” Perry said.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
