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New Zealand immigrants paid below minimum wage

Posted on 29 May at 9 AM Tags: Currency Exchange, Working in New Zealand, Jobs in New Zealand, Property,

Many immigrant workers in New Zealand are being paid less than the minimum wage, according to a media investigation. According to ONE News, immigrants are being lured to the country on the promise of work and residency permits, only to be vastly underpaid, sometimes by more than $5 an hour.

Avtar Singh from India spoke to the news organisation about his experience of coming to New Zealand under the Skilled Migrant category. He has a management diploma so landed a job as a supervisor at a supermarket.

Despite a promise of $14 an hour pay, however, Mr Singh claims he was only paid $8 an hour, far less than the adult minimum wage of $13.50. Mr Singh said he wanted to bring up the issue with his employer but was scared of losing his job.

When ONE News approached the supermarket, it provided a printout of Mr Singh’s earnings that suggested he was in fact paid $14 an hour. However, they couldn’t prove he actually received the money as the supermarket admitted he had been paid in cash, a breach of the worker contract.

Around 95 complaints from immigrants who say they are being paid below the national minimum wage are now being investigated by the Department of Labour. It is thought that there could be many more in the same boat who are too scared to speak up.
The NZD exchange rates on 29/05/2012 were as follows: GBP NZD = 2.0554, EUR NZD = 1.6408, USD NZD = 1.3149, AUD NZD = 1.2921, CHF NZD = 1.3662, INR NZD = 0.0236, AED NZD = 0.3583, MXN NZD = 0.0946, CAD NZD = 1.2847, ZAR NZD = 0.1581, RUB NZD = 0.0407, . See today's New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate
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