Abuse of migrant workers in spotlight

Employers caught exploiting migrant workers may be in for a shock if tough new sanctions are adopted.

Those convicted of exploitation under the Immigration Act could be banned from managing or directing a company, and there is a move to hold companies responsible if they turn a blind eye to subcontractors and franchisees who break labour laws.

A Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) report is seeking feedback on proposals to protect workers and deter rogue employers as part of a Government review into migrant exploitation.

It said organised criminal networks in New Zealand and overseas looked for temporary migrants wanting to come here, then tricked or coerced them into exploitative situations, and MBIE was looking at seizing assets to prevent offending employers from resuming or relocating their businesses. Minister of Immigration Iain Lees-Galloway said exploitation of migrant workers was unacceptable, and damaged New Zealand’s reputation as a work destination and as an exporter.

Premium markets were sensitive to customer opinion, and when exploitation stories hit the news, supermarkets in places like Britain had threatened to remove New Zealand products from their shelves unless they could be assured supply chains were squeaky clean.

The minister said it was a sad fact that a lot of exploitation occurred within migrant communities and introducing a hotline for calls about migrant abuse and a dedicated MBIE team to handle those reports could encourage victims to speak up.

‘‘People feel pressured by other members of their community not to come forward to authorities ... one of the most important things we can do is to give people the confidence to come forward and know they will be supported.’’ A new ‘‘bridging visa’’ would allow workers to leave an exploitative employer and stay here while the case was investigated.

Licensing labour hire companies is among proposed measures to address subcontractors, franchising and labour hire operations which exploit workers to save costs and remain competitive, or to meet the terms of a contract imposed by a more powerful company. To counter that, liability could be widened to include company officers who know, or could reasonably be expected to know, a contractor was breaching employment standards, and did not try to stop it happening. An example of that was if a franchisee’s wage and time records were markedly different from the other operators a franchisor was overseeing.

MBIE received more than 200 complaints of migrant exploitation last year but First Union general secretary Dennis Maga said that was a tiny fraction of the abuse that occurred.

Submissions on the report close on November 27 and Lees-Galloway said he hoped to start rolling out changes from the middle of next year.