New Zealander Migrant Worker Made to Work 72 Hours a Week Without Getting Paid

Table service and seating dining returns to restaurants and cafes on Ponsonby Road on December 03, 2021 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

A newly arrived immigrant in New Zealand was found to be exploited by her company, working 12-hour days, six days a week, without getting paid.

Haesol Yuk arrived in New Zealand with her family in 2019 from South Korea when her husband got an appointment as the Pastor of the Jesus Aroma Church Trust, according to Stuff.

One of the church trustees, Victoria Jean, also known as Jong Ai Park, was the sole director and shareholder of Elev 8, which managed multiple cosmetic businesses, including Elev 8 Skincare Academy and Beauty Clinic, K-Beauty and Elev 9 Toning Table Centre in Dunedin.

Jean then introduced Yuk to a massage course, a suggestion that Yuk accepted.

Yuk, who did not have a working visa, was told she needed to work until her husband’s visa went through.

Then, Yuk was found to be working 72 hours a week, but her employer didn’t pay her a penny, saying she was only a “volunteer.”

Her responsibilities included cleaning and opening the shops, washing sheets and towels, and performing massages.

Yuk was allegedly employed from April 22 to June 9, 2019, for 42 working days. She worked every Monday to Saturday for 12 hours per day and was not paid.

This is not the first time Jean was found to be exploiting newly arrived immigrants.

In April, Jean was fined NZ$164,000 (US$102,582) for exploiting two vulnerable migrant workers. In this case, premiums or payments were taken in exchange for jobs.

Migrant workers are often a target of exploitation, especially if they are working when their visa does not allow them to work, residing in the country unlawfully because their visa has expired, and are worried they will have to leave the country.

In New Zealand, employers who exploit migrants can be imprisoned for up to seven years and be fined up to NZ$100,000 (US$66,964)

Those who are being exploited at work are urged to apply for a Migrant Exploitation Protection Work Visa and report to Employment New Zealand, INZ and New Zealand Police.

Australia’s Law To Protect Migrant Workers From Exploitation

In Australia, the government seeks to provide safer working conditions for migrant workers by raising the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) from $53,900 (US$36,093) to $70,000 (US$76,875)from 1 July 2023.

This means employers must pay migrant workers an annual salary of $70,000 plus superannuation contributions when sponsoring them under an employer-sponsored skilled migration program.

The move aims to protect migrant workers from exploitation and to ensure that their salaries are comparable to those of Australian workers.

“This is the first increase to the TSMIT in a decade. It is a down payment on the type of migration system the Albanese Government wants to build,” said Clare O'Neil, Australia’s Home Affairs Minister.

“Our migration success story is rooted in permanency and citizenship. Giving people the chance to get established in their community, educate their kids, and become Australian.”

The government also seeks to reinstate limits on international student work hours from July 1.

Three-Quarters of Migrant Workers Dont Report Underpayment

According to a survey of over 15,000 migrant workers over the past five years by the Migrant Justice Institute, around three-quarters of migrant workers earned below the casual minimum wage in Australia, and a quarter earned less than half that.

Nine in 10 underpaid workers didn’t speak up and took no action.

The Albanese government is also looking to establish whistleblower protections that allow migrant workers to report the matter without risking their visas.

Sanmati Verma, Managing Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC), said the conditions for exploitation are “built into our visa system.”

“If migrant workers can’t speak up without fear of losing their place in Australia, most will never come forward. When they leave Australia, new migrant workers will simply replace them in those exploitative jobs,” she said.

“These whistleblower protections must be a cornerstone of the government’s migration reforms.”

Associate Professor Laurie Berg, UTS, and Co-Executive Director of Migrant Justice Institute, told the HRLC that without the whistleblower protections, employers “know they won’t get caught underpaying migrant workers and exploitation will remain business as usual.”

“Harsh penalties for unscrupulous employers are useless if migrant workers are too fearful to report them.”

Associate Professor Bassina Farbenblum, UNSW, and Co-Executive Director of Migrant Justice Institute, also said it is “immoral for the government to draw migrants and international students back to Australia knowing full well that it hasn’t fixed the problems that will lead to many of them being exploited and unable to speak up.”

“Enabling exploited migrant workers to speak up is sensible government policy. After a decade of government inaction, these reforms will finally make a dent in migrant exploitation without creating red tape for businesses doing the right thing.”