Auckland bottle store fined $46,000 for breaching worker's rights

The liquor store.
The liquor store. Photo credit: Google Maps

An Auckland bottle store has been fined $18,000 for breaching a migrant worker's rights.

The employee had to work six days a week and often do unpaid 12-hour shifts.

The Employment Relations Authority also ordered Super Liquor Papatoetoe, or Basra and Khella Limited, to pay more than $28,000 in arrears to the former worker.

Because the company's sole director Ravindra Basra kept poor records, the authority relied on the worker's public transport records, time-stamped photographs and purchase receipts from neighbouring businesses to prove his claims.

The breaches happened in 2017 and 2018, and the authority said Super Liquor had since taken steps to improve its compliance with employment standards.

RNZ