Vulnerable workers forced to sign bonds

A Christchurch company specialising in foreign labour made employees sign an illegal ‘‘bond document’’ requiring them to pay the firm nearly $5000 if they quit.

One World Resourcing apparently told one employee if he did not sign, his visa would be cancelled and he would have to return home to the Philippines.

The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) found One World’s actions breached the Wages Protection Act and exerted moral pressure on vulnerable foreign employees.

The firm may now lose its ability to recruit migrants.

One World was set up in 2012 to supply foreign labour for the Christchurch rebuild. In 2015, it hired five Filipino glaziers and assigned them to a client’s project.

Upon arrival, One World required the workers to get a bank loan so they could repay the company $3248 for immigration services, visa costs, flights, a bicycle, a week’s rent and a wage advance. There were no complaints about this payment, which the ERA decision said were ‘‘the kind of costs an employee would normally bear’’.

In June 2015, One World chief executive Declan Clancy heard two of the glaziers planned to leave. He was concerned the client’s project would not be finished on time if they left, and the firm would incur a penalty.

Clancy organised a meeting with the five employees and presented them with a ‘‘bond document’’ requiring them to pay $4968 if they left the company before the end of their contract.

This was to cover ‘‘costs to One World for recruiting the five glaziers’’, such as postal fees, Department of Internal Affairs fees, Philippines Embassy fees and bank fees.

The ERA said this amounted to seeking a ‘‘premium’’ – the illegal practice of making employees buy a job.

One of the two employees who planned to leave said he was not happy working at One World.

‘‘[Clancy] told me that if I did not sign this document, my visa would be cancelled and I would have to go back to the Philippines.

‘‘This made me feel afraid for my family, which is the reason I signed the bond.’’

The ERA decision said the employer took advantage of its inherently greater bargaining power to make the employees sign the bond documents.

‘‘In reality, there was pressure put on the glaziers to sign the agreement and it sought to limit their individual choice.’’

The ERA fined One World $9000, of which $1500 would go to each of the two employees to compensate them for their stress and worry. The fine was heavily discounted because One World cooperated with the labour inspector, the breach of the Wages Protection Act was inadvertent, and One World withdrew the bond agreements within a week of being told they were illegal.

Regardless, Immigration NZ may prevent the company from recruiting migrant labour for a year. As of April 1 this year, Immigration NZ imposed a policy where it would issue companies with a ‘‘stand-down’’ on recruiting migrant labour if they were penalised for breaching employment standards. The length of the standdown depended on the size of the penalty imposed.

One World’s advocate submitted the company’s business was ‘‘completely predicated on the sourcing of immigrant labour’’ and a year-long stand-down would be its demise.

‘‘I accept that my determination may have a consequence for One World beyond the mere payment of money,’’ the ERA decision says.

‘‘However, that is a decision yet to be taken by a government agency applying government policy. My decisions must not be affected by government policy.’’ Rocks are still falling in the Manawatu Gorge as diggers get to work to clear the slip that blocks both lanes of the highway.

State Highway 3 is closed until May 18 after two slips blocked the main road link between Manawatu and the eastern regions of the North Island.

Access was gained to the slips on Saturday in order to give a firsthand look at what damage had been caused this time around.

The first of the two slips had been cleared, but a few more rocks had since fallen, and work was being carried out to clear the second slip of about 4000 cubic metres. The two slips were only two kilometres apart and NZ Transport Agency highway manager Ross I’Anson said the smaller slip was the first to occur.

It happened late on Monday night, so the decision was made to close the road until they could assess the damage in the morning. Then the second slip, which was much larger, happened some time during the night while the road was closed.

However, I’Anson said this larger slip was only about one per cent of what the 2011 slip, which closed the road for 14 months, was like.

‘‘We do get slips and that’s just the nature of the rocks ... and we can’t stop them. We have the netting and it does stop small slips.’’

The netting would not stop larger slips and I’Anson said they would carry on putting rock fall netting through the gorge to help stop smaller slips.

Long-term options for the gorge needed to be assessed.

Weekly checks were done on all the roads NZTA was responsible for and the gorge received extra attention in those.

But it was impossible to be able to tell if a slip was going to happen, I’Anson said.

‘‘There’s water getting into the rocks and it’s slowly saturating the surface and when it gets heavy enough it comes [down].’’

Going over the Saddle Road was only about five minutes longer, but I’Anson said they recognised the impact it had on people, particularly trucking companies.

‘‘We appreciate things like this do impact on the economy.’’

Road Transport Forum chief executive Ken Shirley said the road closure highlighted the need for farmers to stand stock prior to transport as they use the alterna- tive route over the Saddle Rd.

‘‘Animal welfare guidelines recommend standing stock off green feed for at least four hours before transportation.

‘‘This is particularly important for stock that are to be carried over the Saddle Rd route, which is especially windy and steep.’’

Shirley said the only effluent dump area stock transport operators could utilise in Woodville was now difficult to access and highlighted the fact there needed to be more stock effluent dumping sites in the region.

‘‘Transporters are, therefore, in a difficult position until the Manawatu Gorge repoens. Dealing with excessive effluent is a costly and time consuming problem that is largely out of their control.’’