Subj : Southland farm, owner to pay $215k for exploiting migrant workers
To   : All
From : News Person
Date : Mon Apr 08 2024 01:32 pm

A Southland dairy farm and its owner that exploited three Indonesian migrant
workers has been ordered to pay penalties amounting to $215,000 in a decision
released by the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) today.

ERA found the business Rural Practice Ltd and the owner Reza Abdul-Jabbar, an
Invercargill Imam, had breached "numerous minimum employment standards"
including manipulating payslips and unlawfully deducting money from their
wages.

Rural Practice Ltd was ordered to pay $145,000, and Abdul-Jabbar must pay
$70,000.

Two of the three workers will each receive $10,000 of the penalties amount.

The three workers came from Indonesia to work for Rural Practice Ltd on its
Invercargill dairy farm between December 2017 and February 2022.

In December 2020, one of the workers contacted the Ministry of Business,
Innovation and Employment's contact centre to complain he had not been paid
the salary recorded in his employment agreement or given the number of days
off he was owed each fortnight.

He also complained that his employer had taken possession of his passport and
ID and kept them even though he asked for them back.

A Labour Inspectorate investigation found that each employee had been given
two versions of their individual employment agreements - one stating a higher
salary which the employer provided to Immigration New Zealand (INZ) during
work visa applications, and the other, provided to the Labour Inspector,
stating a lower amount. None of the employees were paid the correct wages due
to them.

It was also found amounts had been deducted from one of the worker's wages,
purportedly to pay for the services of a recruitment company in Indonesia.

Abdul-Jabber, who is a shareholder in companies owning property in Queenstown
and Southland, is the Imam of the Invercargill Mosque for the local Muslim
community. He was also the religious adviser and mentor for at least one of
the workers.

Silvia Abdul-Jabber, who was a co-owner of Rural Practice Ltd, passed away in
September 2022 while the case was being heard and the Labour Inspectorate
withdrew their claim for penalties against her.

'Deliberate and systematic exploitation'
During the Labour Inspector's investigation it was found that payslips for
the workers had been manipulated.

Labour Inspectorate's Simon Humphries, said this was a "deliberate and
systemic exploitation" that was "unforgivable".

"These workers came to this country in search of a better life but they were
taken advantage of by those they trusted," he said.

"The penalties imposed demonstrates the serious nature of the breaches and
sends a clear message to business owners who choose to exploit their workers
for financial gain. There will be consequences."

Humphries said the Labour Inspectorate would continue to vigorously monitor
potential migrant worker exploitation and enforce compliance when necessary.

"We are pleased, that through our intervention in this case, we were able to
help these vulnerable workers".

In his determination, Authority member Alastair Dumbleton noted that the
manipulation of the workers' payslips was an indication that Rural Practice
Ltd through its directors had actively contrived to mislead statutory
officials of INZ and the Labour Inspector.

He said the breaches happened because of "an attitude held by Mr Abdul-Jabbar
of disrespect for employment and immigration statutory rules and regulations
- 'officialdom and bureaucracy' - and also an attitude of indifference to the
sanctity of contract.

"In short, as a director and owner of the employer Rural Practice Ltd, when
it suited him, Mr Abdul-Jabbar knowingly disregarded the law governing
employment. He took advantage of [the migrant employees] because they were
not from New Zealand and were from Indonesia, where he too was from."

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