Bottle-O baron accused of exploitation obtained 107 visas for migrant workers
While Ravinder Kumar Arora accumulated dozens of complaints of migrant exploitation, officials approved more than 100 visas for people to work for him. National Correspondent Steve Kilgallon reports on further revelations about the man dubbed by some as New Zealand’s worst employer.
‘‘People treat their animals better than he treats his employees,’’ reflects Arjun Chopra. ‘‘He treated me like a slave.’’
Chopra worked for Auckland liquor baron Ravi Arora from 2016 to 2019. When he first arrived in New Zealand, he didn’t understand the labour laws – so he accepted it when Arora told him the market rate was $6 an hour, but he would pay him $7. He’d get a $1 pay rise after a year if he worked hard. He says later requests to be paid the legal minimum wage were rebuffed.
‘‘It is true that working for him was like modern-day slavery,’’ Chopra says.
‘‘He was very abusive to his staff and always taunting [them]: ‘If you guys will not work hard or do more hours, I will get your visa cancelled from Immigration’.
‘‘If I ever had a headache or I wanted a day off for any reason, [Arora’s wife] Anuradha’s answer was ‘get a Panadol and keep working’.’’
Chopra is one of four former workers who have come forward this week claiming Arora paid them as little as $7 an hour. Last week, three others told the Sunday Star-Times Arora owed them $650,000 in wages and entitlements.
His businesses have failed 19 Labour Department inspections. He was ordered to make a $30,000 payout to former employees in 2015.
Labour Inspectorate national manager Stu Lumsden says if all seven complainants were willing to give evidence in court, it would be enough to trigger a full investigation into Arora’s business empire. ‘‘We would welcome them to come and see us,’’ Lumsden says. The inspectorate has two ‘‘active’’ investigations into companies owned by Arora.
One of the new whistleblowers, Sarabjeet Singh, says he’s speaking out because it’s ‘‘time to stand up … time for justice for my brothers’’.
There are certainly many of them – since January 2014, the year Arora first failed a Labour inspection for breaching employment laws, 15 companies associated with him have been granted 107 work visas (some staff would have had multiple visas).
Lumsden says officials are now discussing whether Arora’s companies should be granted any future visas for staff. They have three visa applications currently being considered.
Singh describes Arora (who in June sold a Takapuna motel, Park Lane Motor Inn, which has a CV of $12.75 million) as a ‘‘rich man, but poor in heart’’. He is another worker who says he was initially paid $7 an hour for working up to 90 hours a week.
Both Singh and Chopra claim they worked at least 70 hours a week, and more than 90 over the Christmas period.
A third worker, Mohit Makol, who managed Arora’s Picton Bottle-O store, claims he initially worked in Auckland for cash for a year.
Makol says he was expected to work 60-hour weeks when contracted for only 30, and 70 hours when contracted for 40 to keep his actual wage artificially low. He estimates he is owed $150,000 in unpaid wages.
Makol claims Arora bullied him into saying he was being treated well when the Labour Inspectorate visited the Picton store in 2019. But he alleges Arora then bullied him into resigning so he could appoint a relative, so he contacted the same inspector to report his concerns. He was told there was a case backlog. He has also
approached a mediation service.
Another worker, Amarjit Singh, also reported Arora to the Labour Inspectorate, but says he was told his file was closed because they couldn’t reach Arora.
He worked at Arora’s liquor warehouse in Kingsland – sold last year for $4.84m – and also alleges he was paid just $7 an hour initially, with an annual $1 pay rise. He showed the StarTimes a payslip showing he was paid at the legal rate for 35 hours of work, and a roster for the same week showing that in reality he worked an extra 27 hours above that.
Asked if he requested to be paid properly, Amarjit Singh said: ‘‘So many times but he would say I can’t pay you more than this . . . I would say the pay is not enough, because $8 an hour is not enough.’’
He was scared of Arora and worried by threats his visa would be cancelled. He quit in December 2019.
He says his original visa was actually as assistant manager at Bottle-O Remuera, but he was sent to work in the warehouse.
‘‘When I said ‘I don’t want to work in the warehouse because my visa is not good for that’, he said ‘you go there, or else I cancel your visa’.’’
He believes he is owed $65,000 by Arora and wrote to him when he quit asking for that amount, but says he received no reply.
While Arora has sold off much of his empire, including Bottle-O stores in Mt Albert, Remuera and Willowbank, he still owns two Auckland BottleOs, one in Picton, and two Auckland branches of Bottle-O’s sister chain, Merchants Liquor. His wife Anuradha recently bought a Bottle-O in Lincoln, Christchurch.
Meanwhile, three staff at a Christchurch store owned by Anuradha have quit. Former manager of the Christchurch store Chris Jamieson says he plans to oppose Anuradha receiving a permanent liquor licence to continue the outlet beyond October, when a temporary authority ends.
Jamieson says all three existing duty managers at the store have resigned, leaving just one existing worker. He believes a relative of Arora is running the store.
‘‘We did some digging, and when we found out more and more information [about Arora] we all said ‘we don’t want to work here’.
‘‘There is a massive regular [customer] base there and about half of them haven’t come back in since it changed and I’ve spoken to a lot of them and they won’t be going back,’’ Jamieson says.
Donna Riley, chief executive of Ohau Wines Ltd, says she would no longer supply Arora’s businesses.
Riley says she had ‘‘rather unpleasant’’ dealings with Arora and had to use debt collectors to get paid. Riley said she had noted Lumsden’s call for the public to ‘‘vote with their dollar as to where to shop’’.
Arora’s major supplier is Lion Breweries. External relations director Sara Tucker says Lion ‘‘condemn’’ any exploitation as ‘‘unacceptable’’ but would not stop supplying Arora.
‘‘Stopping supply is not the obvious or simple answer that it might appear, as operators can change banners or simply source their products from wholesalers or other stores.’’
Tucker says the answer is in enforcement and conditional licences.
Stuff this week also reported on the case of another Bottle-O franchisee, Charanjit Singh Dhillon, who is also facing allegations from three workers that they were underpaid.
Lumsden says the Labour Inspectorate has met with the Bottle-O chain and is in ‘‘early discussions with them about how they can ensure compliance’’.
In an email leaked to the StarTimes, Bottle-O general manager Grant Simpson this week wrote to franchisees suggesting concerned store owners tell customers ‘‘that we are working urgently to understand the details of the claims and will be in a position to comment further once we have completed our review’’.
Simpson’s email requests all store owners disclose any current or historic Labour Inspectorate investigations. New store owners would now have to complete a declaration about their Labour Inspectorate history before a decision was made on franchising.
‘‘We understand the above may cause some difficulties and want you to know that we are giving this our utmost attention and will update you further in the near future as soon as we have completed our review.’’
Ravinder Arora did not respond to emailed questions.
His lawyer, Max Gunawan, in a statement, said the allegations of the former workers were ‘‘wrong and defamatory’’. Arora would not comment any further on the latest allegations, Gunawan said.
Arora appeared in the Auckland District Court on Tuesday on an unrelated assault charge. A registrar deferred the case without plea until August 27.
As a result, he has agreed not to be part of the application process for the Bottle-O store in Christchurch.