The company, Rural Practice Limited (RPL) was ordered to pay a penalty of $10,000 and its owner Mr Reza Abdul-Jabbar ordered to pay a penalty of $5,000.
Joanne Hacking, Labour Inspectorate Head of Compliance and Enforcement, said the latest penalties imposed on RPL and its owner demonstrate the importance of cooperating and complying with the Authority and its processes.
“The ERA plays a vital role in upholding fair and lawful employment practices in New Zealand and, of particular importance to the Labour Inspectorate, enabling the effective enforcement of employment standards. Its integrity must be respected. This case sends a strong and unequivocal message – parties must take the Authority’s process seriously and engage with it honestly.”
Mr Abdul-Jabbar is a religious leader in his community and served as a religious advisor and mentor for at least one of the three Indonesian workers he was found to have exploited when the ERA penalised him and his business last year.
Breached employment standards
In that case both the business and Mr Abdul-Jabbar were found to have breached minimum employment standards by:
- not paying the workers the minimum wage
- not paying for certain holiday and leave pay appropriately
- unlawfully deducting money from their wages
- forcing the workers to pay premiums
- not keeping accurate wage and time records.
During the initial Labour Inspectorate investigation into the exploitation of the workers, RPL and Mr Abdul-Jabbar claimed one of the workers owed $5,000 for recruitment costs paid by RPL to an agent in Indonesia on his behalf, and that the worker had agreed for this amount to be deducted from his wages.
However, the worker denied he had hired a recruitment agent and said he had not seen the invoice provided by RPL and Mr Abdul-Jabbar until the Labour Inspector showed it to him.
During its investigation, the ERA asked to see evidence that RPL had paid the invoice and RPL, through Mr Abdul-Jabbar, subsequently provided a photograph of a receipt. But, when asked for the original of the receipt, Mr Abdul-Jabbar provided a similar, but different, document without any accompanying explanation.
This led the ERA to launch an own-motion enquiry into whether it had been obstructed.
Andrew Dallas, the Chief of the ERA who ruled on the obstruction case, found none of the “reasonably available, and objectively verifiable, corroborative material, has ever been provided.” He also found “it more likely than not this material does not exist.”
Noting the actions of RPL and Mr Abdul-Jabbar had made the ERA’s investigation process significantly more difficult for both the ERA and the Labour Inspector, Mr Dallas found an obstruction had occurred due to “the ongoing failure to provide evidence to corroborate the authenticity of two receipts – both materially different but said to be ‘original’”.
In imposing the penalty, the ERA noted: “The nature of RPL and Mr Abdul-Jabbar’s conduct in obstructing the ERA’s investigation was serious and sustained. The obstruction was not mere inadvertence or negligence.”
Joanne Hacking said the ERA found in a previous determination relating to this case, that the employer had tried to mislead or deceive Immigration New Zealand and the Labour Inspectorate by providing them materially different versions of the same documents (IEAs and payslips) and it is deeply concerning to see this type of behaviour impact the Authority’s process as well.
“This case underscores the critical importance of honesty and transparency in proceedings before the ERA, which relies on the integrity of the evidence presented to it. The Labour Inspectorate is pleased the ERA took the matter seriously, conducted a thorough inquiry and took decisive action to uphold the integrity of its processes. This sends a strong and clear message that deliberate attempts to frustrate ERA investigations are not tolerated.”
MBIE encourages anyone who thinks they or someone else has been treated unfairly in the workplace to contact our 0800 20 90 20 contact centre number where their concerns will be handled in a safe environment.