By Gurbir Singh, Hamilton(New Zealand), Oct 4,2018:
Exploitation of Indian migrants by employers, especially those who are on student or work visas, has continued in New Zealand in spite of stricter penalties by Immigration Department and harsher punishments by local courts.
Unfortunately, many of these convicted employers are Indian nationals themselves.
At least three fresh cases of conviction for exploitation of workers have surfaced in the past few weeks. Latest to be reported is that of Rotorua's, 'Lovely India' restaurant owner and the other two Indian employers are former owners of 'Pizza Hut' franchises in Nelson, Gore, Richmond, Blenheim(all in New Zealand).
Davinder Singh whose company owned Pizza Hut franchise and has been here for nearly 13 years has been sentenced to nine months' home detention, 200 hours of community service and ordered to pay $150,000 in victim reparation. He was paying his Indian workers less than minimum wage, forcing them to work long hours and many were only paid for 40 hours work a week despite working between 45-60 hours regularly.
Similarly, Nilin Patel’s Rotorua company, Vishnu Hospitality Limited, which trades as 'Lovely India' restaurant has been ordered to pay $10,000 for failing to keep accurate employment records....
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Gurbir Singh is a New Zealand-based Freelance Feature Writer & Journalist. He can be contacted at: gurbir@journalist.com