By Tony Reid
An Auckland liquor store operator is being accused of treating his immigrant staff like slaves, paying them wages of $3 an hour and some days paying them nothing at all.
The Department of Labour is investigating the claim, lodged by a group of eight workers with the assistance of Whitehead Group Employment Solutions.
Student worker Manish Sherma says he completed more than 25 days of training without receiving any pay.
When he started working full time – nine hours a day – he claims he was paid $100 a week.
The men say that while working at Sky Liquor and Symonds Liquor in central Auckland they had no contracts and were paid in cash.
Ramneek Bhatia says he and his immigrant co-workers were “getting totally exploited… this is not what we were [imagining] before coming here”.
The men come from India and are on student visas. Legally, they can only work 20 hours a week – but Whitehead Group Employment Solutions believes this is being used against them, with an employer forcing them to work more hours then threatening them with deportation.
3 News tried to contact the manager through one of his stores, but neither he or his lawyer wanted to comment.
The Department of Labour has confirmed it is investigating the claims but won't comment further, and the police are also believed to be involved.
3 News