An Auckland construction company used a Singapore agency to charge a migrant thousands of dollars in fees to get a job, and sacked him after a week.

The Employment Relations Authority heard 6 Meter Homes was accredited to recruit dozens of migrants for its two firms, but was likely to have known and profited from the agency charging an $11,000 job premium.

The Rosedale-based business was ordered to pay more than $46,000 in compensation, fines and lost wages.

One of its directors, Wenbin Hua, had to pay $6000 of that for seeking a premium from migrant worker, Shunxu Zhou.

Zhou was charged a premium to get a carpenter’s job with 6 Meter but he was sacked a week after starting.

He was recruited from Singapore, along with at least four others, and paid the equivalent of about NZD$11,700 over 2022 and 2023 to get a job and visa.

“The amount of money Mr Zhou was required to pay was significant from his perspective,” said authority member Nicola Craig in her decision.

“He spent all his savings, as well as borrowing money, to pay the fee, hoping to create a better future for his family.”

May Moncur represented a Chinese Radio host, who has been awarded $18,000 in compensation after he was unjustifiably dismissed over an altercation with another staff member.

Desperate to make a life for himself in New Zealand, Wang submitted hundreds of job applications before being offered a role as the bookkeeper for Gill’s business.

The only catch was that the young graduate was required to pay her a sum of $90,000 in exchange for the job. In return, Wang would also be allowed to use his new boss as a reference to assist with gaining residency.

A woman whose employer told her she was “f***ing hopeless and “f***ing stupid” and was subjected to a number of incidents of workplace bullying has been awarded $25,000 in compensation and lost wages.

Two Indian priests (or granthi) say they have been exploited since coming to work in New Zealand, earning just $2000 and $1000 respectively for six months’ work.

Employment law advocate May Moncur is acting on behalf of the two men and has come across similar cases involving the Sikh community. “We’re trying our best to make sure that this doesn’t happen in the future by highlighting those cases, so the employers think twice before they’re trying to take advantage of the religious workers who are not aware of their rights.”

An Auckland restaurant has been ordered to pay $19,000 in compensation after unjustifiably dismissing a waiter whose husband questioned whether she was paid correctly following a Covid-19 wage subsidy claim.

The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) has found that Penrose business Good Food Vibes, trading as Big Fish Eatery, unjustifiably dismissed casual worker Alexis Dietz​ after the nationwide lockdown in 2020.

 Good Food Vibes must pay Dietz $1939 in lost wages and $19,000 in compensation.