Promised 30 hours a week, he was paid cash and fired after just 20 days

A construction worker recruited from China was paid significantly less than the rate set out in his employment contract before being dismissed just 20 days after starting work in Auckland.

According to a Stuff report, the Employment Relations Authority has ordered Auckland-based construction company ERA Home Limited to pay Xuefeng Yang $23,000 in compensation, $8,008.20 in lost wages, and holiday pay.

The company was also ordered to pay a $3,000 penalty to the Crown after the authority found it had breached its good faith obligations and Yang’s employment agreement.

Authority member Sarah Blick found that Yang was recruited in early 2023 through a Chinese agency and signed an employment agreement promising him $29.66 an hour for at least 30 hours a week under an Accredited Employer Work Visa, as reported by Stuff.

Yang arrived in New Zealand on June 4, 2023, and was met at Auckland Airport by ERA Home employee Yanzhe Zhang, who took him to rental accommodation.

After he was not given any work for three days, Yang claimed he paid Zhang a $1,000 “introduction fee” to secure employment, Stuff has reported.

He began working on June 8 at a construction site near the bottom of Queen Street in central Auckland. Yang said he was paid $18 an hour in cash by Zhang or an assistant, receiving a total of $3,450.

On July 2, he was summarily dismissed for allegedly “not obeying orders,” Stuff has quoted.

Blick found the company had made fundamental procedural errors in dismissing Yang. It had failed to properly investigate the allegations, raise the concerns with him or give him an opportunity to respond before ending his employment.

Because his visa conditions prevented him from lawfully working for another employer, Yang returned to China on September 3, 2023, as reported by Stuff.

Yang also sought to recover 100,000 RMB that he said he had paid to the Chinese recruitment agency as an unlawful premium under the Wages Protection Act.

However, Blick dismissed that part of his claim, finding there was insufficient evidence that ERA Home or its representatives had requested or received the payment.

The authority also rejected Yang’s application to hold ERA Home's sole director, Junwen Long, personally liable for the employment breaches and penalties.

Blick found there was insufficient evidence that Long knew the essential facts surrounding the breaches when they occurred, as reported by Stuff.