Group says it will work with Zespri to stop malpractice, after it found Asad Horticulture Limited in breach of employment regulations
New Zealand’s Employment Relations Authority (ERA) says it will continue to work closely with kiwifruit exporter Zespri to weed out unscrupulous employment practices, after a labour provider to the kiwifruit industry in the Bay of Plenty was found to have underpaid three employees over several years.
Asad Horticulture Limited, which went into liquidation on 14 August, was fined NZ$100,000 (€56,070) after it breached minimum employment standards and failed to pay the employees their holiday pay in time, the authority revealed.
Sole director and shareholder Mohammad Asaduzzaman was also found liable for the same breaches and ordered to pay a portion of the total fine.
According to the authority’s Labour Inspectorate, the workers were temporary visa holders and therefore vulnerable, the money owed was significant, and record-keeping breaches were “systemic”.
The company and Asaduzzaman have since paid the affected employees just over NZ$45,170 (€25,327) in arrears.
Inspector Kevin Finnegan said it was encouraging that the company and its owner had taken responsibility for the breaches. “However, it is disappointing that it took a full three years before full payment of the arrears was made,” he stated.
“Nevertheless, this is a positive outcome because the Labour Inspector in this case showed tenacity to achieve the right outcome for the complainants, despite the time it took.”
In reaching the decision, ERA member Andrew Dallas denied an application to prevent the decision being made public.
“The Authority is bound by the presumption of ‘open justice’,” he explained. “There is the utmost public interest in compliance with, and the enforcement of, minimum employment standards. Conduct of the type evidenced in this determination should not be shielded from the public gaze by legal nicety.”
He added: “While it is appreciated that publication may be disconcerting for others closely associated with him, [Asaduzzaman] must, however, take full, and untrammelled through publication, responsibility for a state of affairs of his own creation.
“We appreciate the fact that non-publication orders were declined as the Inspectorate works closely with Zespri to ensure their supply chain remains free of non-compliant contractors and growers to ensure there is fairness for all those operating in the kiwifruit sector.”
