A farm that paid its vulnerable Samoan labourers just $7 an hour, refusing them holidays and sick leave and housing them in accommodation “I wouldn’t put my dog in” must hand over $160,000 in penalties.
But a farmworker who gave crucial evidence that countered her bosses’ lies will never receive her payout of over $122,500.
The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) ruling, for what ERA member Rachel Larmer called “sustained, systematic and blatant” offending, comes after an earlier order that Sunshine Valley Farms must pay $96,173 in unpaid wages and entitlements. However, they’ve only paid $15,000 of that amount so far.
The new ruling means the Bombay fruit and vegetable farm’s key figures – husband and wife Ragu and Minaxi ‘Rama’ Wallabh and their son, Ravi – must also pay up personally for their exploitation of vulnerable workers in New Zealand illegally.
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But worker Elisapeta Enoka died aged 56 just days before the ERA investigation hearing began last August. The Labour Inspectorate says it is determined to find her beneficiaries to hand over what should have been hers.
Larmer slammed the Wallabhs’ attempts to mount a coverup as “blatant lies”, said their evidence was contradictory and couldn’t be relied upon, and ordered all three to personally...
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