A well-known imam and dairy farmer in New Zealand has been fined NZ$215,000 for allegedly exploiting three migrant workers from Indonesia.

The country’s Employment Relations Authority (ERA) ordered Reza Abdul-Jabbar and Company Rural Practice to pay $70,000 and $145,000 in penalties, respectively. The move comes after it was found that Abdul-Jabbar and his company had committed numerous employment breaches related to Indonesian employees from 2017 to 2022.

The migrant workers had been assigned to work at Company Rural Practice’s Invercargill dairy farm. However, Abdul-Jabbar supposedly failed to give them their minimum wage and holiday pay.

The businessman had also manipulated their payslips and made unlawful deductions to their wages. No accurate wage records related to the three workers were kept during this time.

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Non-payment of migrant workers

One of the Indonesian workers contacted the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) in December 2020 to report the supposed mistreatment, claiming that Abdul-Jabbar had also refused to return their passport and identification.

The government launched a Labour Inspectorate investigation that found Abdul-Jabbar and his company had not paid the migrant workers their correct wages. They had also made unlawful deductions to the workers’ payslips, including payments to the recruitment company that hired the Indonesian workers.

Simon Humphries, head of compliance and enforcement at the MBIE, expressed his disappointment that a business owner would exploit workers that they brought to New Zealand.

“These workers came to this country in search of a better life, but they were taken advantage of by those they trusted,” Humphries said. “This was deliberate and systemic exploitation.”

Humphries said they were pleased that they were able to help the Indonesian workers through the MBIE’s intervention. He made it clear that the ministry will continue to monitor any potential exploitation of migrant workers and enforce compliance whenever it is needed.

“The penalties imposed demonstrate the serious nature of the breaches and send a clear message to business owners who choose to exploit their workers for financial gain. There will be consequences,” Humphries said.

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Manipulation of pay slips

Alastair Dumbleton, a representative of the ERA, said Abdul-Jabbar and Company Rural Practice’s manipulation of the migrant workers’ pay slips is proof that the company had intended to mislead Immigration New Zealand and the Labour Inspectorate.

“Abdul-Jabbar knowingly disregarded the law governing employment,” Dumbleton said. “He took advantage of [the migrant employees] because they were not from New Zealand.”

Dumbleton accused Abdul-Jabbar of having “disrespect for employment and immigration statutory rules and regulations”, which led the businessman to commit the employment breaches.

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Exploitation of workers

The story of the Indonesian farmhands is the latest case of employee exploitation involving migrant workers.

Last month, five Indian workers accused an Auckland restaurant of demanding extortion payments and unjustly extending their work hours. Their employer also supposedly withheld their wages since the end of December.

The workers were recruited from Punjab, India and brought to New Zealand via the government’s accredited employer work visas (AEWV) scheme.

According to the complainants, the restaurant owner’s brother had required them to pay about $50,000 before they could be given their work visas.

While the migrant workers were paid during their first few weeks in New Zealand, they said their employer suddenly stopped giving them their wages around December 2023 and January 2024. They were also subjected to long hours despite not being paid.

The restaurant owner denied the migrant workers’ accusations, claiming he was unable to pay his employees because of a decline in his business.

He also rejected allegations that he had extorted large sums of money from the Indian workers in exchange for their work visas or that he threatened them with visa cancellations and deportation.