A New Zealand grocery shop has been slugged with a $NZ53,800 ($A50,200) bill after it was found to have forced a migrant worker to hand over more than $NZ10,000 and then failed to pay him the minimum wage.
The shop, Sun 2 Moon in Wellington, has been ordered to pay $NZ25,000 in penalties and about $NZ28,800 in wages owed to Jaspreet Singh in an NZ Employment Relations Authority ruling.
It includes paying back $NZ10,400 it made Mr Singh pay the company in "premiums", including an upfront payment, regular cash payments and business costs it made him pay for on his personal credit card.
The ERA found the shop, owned and operated by Luv Kumar Khattar, had failed to give Mr Singh holiday pay or meet minimum wage requirements and didn't keep proper records.
"It is difficult not to see this sort of behaviour as an abuse of the power imbalance between employer and employee," the ruling said.
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Mr Singh was employed at Sun 2 Moon from November 2012 to November 2014.
Retail NZ said the case had prompted concerns about the exploitation of vulnerable migrant workers.
"The bottom line is that all employers need to comply with the law, and to take all practical steps to ensure that they do," Retail NZ's public affairs manager Greg Harford said.
