The Law Lady: The CAB Report

So first off, what exactly are we talking about when we talk about migrant exploitation? This is migrant worker exploitation specifically that CAB is looking at.

And essentially it's where employers disregard workers' rights and take advantage of a person's lack of local knowledge and laws, lack of support structures, reliance on visa compliance in particular, for them to remain in the country.

So it can take a lot of different forms.

There's no one thing that you can point to to say, hey, this is definitely wrong.

Migrant exploitation, it's a whole bunch of different things.

It can include things like not paying or underpaying of wages.

It can include things like providing inconsistent and less hours than has been previously agreed to.

It can also be making people work more hours, so demanding excessive work hours rather than, again, what was agreed to, requiring a person to pay fees to be employed in a job.

So, you know, they've done all the work they've come through and then they arrive here in Aotearoa and then they're told that they have to pay extras here.

or sometimes that they have to buy specific things.

So, for example, you have to buy a whole bunch of tools that you didn't know you had to buy.

You have to pay for, you know, like everything that you use in the job.

Sometimes that actually includes some things like all being taken, that they're told that they need a car and then being taken to purchase a car, using quotation marks, On finance, where they've just arrived in the country and the employer and the finance company are kind of working together to try and exploit migrants in that way.

It can be things like not being provided employment agreements, denying access to annual or sick leave.

So not being able to get the employment entitlements that you should be entitled to.

That's things like mileage or overtime or again any of those kinds of requirements that you should normally be entitled to while you are working here in Aotearoa New Zealand.

withholding of wages as a charge for business expenses for example work equipment generally speaking when you are in a job your employer needs to pay for whatever the things are that you need to do your job right it is not your job as an employee to pay for that equipment so generally speaking That's on them, and so if you're being required to pay for that, migrants in particular, then that could be exploitation.

Another one, providing accommodation, which is unsanitary and controlling the employee's living conditions.

There are a bunch of visas in which employees...

Migrants are living and working in a place that the employer controls, so they control both the employment and the accommodation side of things, and so then providing accommodation which is substandard, or using that accommodation as a way to exploit or abuse people.

Exerting actual abuse, emotional, physical abuse, threats, including threatening visa status, retaining and withholding passports, threatening personal or family safety, actual physical violence against employees.

Making non-negotiable changes to employment contracts, compromising your safety due to a lack of health and safety measures, unfair or constructive dismissal of employees and controlling and monitoring movement and communication of employees.

So not letting you talk to each other, making sure that everybody, you know, like has to, all the communication have to go via the employer, etc, etc.

Those are all potentially migrant exploitation.

So it's a kind of continuum of experiences, ranging from breaches of your employment rights through to actual human rights breaches, including sexual exploitation, forced labour, physical violence can also be part of this as well, and there are actual criminal offending sometimes, slavery and people trafficking as well.

So first off, what exactly are we talking about when we talk about migrant exploitation? This is migrant worker exploitation specifically that CAB is looking at.

And essentially it's where employers disregard workers' rights and take advantage of a person's lack of local knowledge and laws, lack of support structures, reliance on visa compliance in particular, for them to remain in the country.

So it can take a lot of different forms.

There's no one thing that you can point to to say, hey, this is definitely wrong.

Migrant exploitation, it's a whole bunch of different things.

It can include things like not paying or underpaying of wages.

It can include things like providing inconsistent and less hours than has been previously agreed to.

It can also be making people work more hours, so demanding excessive work hours rather than, again, what was agreed to, requiring a person to pay fees to be employed in a job.

So, you know, they've done all the work they've come through and then they arrive here in Aotearoa and then they're told that they have to pay extras here.

or sometimes that they have to buy specific things.

So, for example, you have to buy a whole bunch of tools that you didn't know you had to buy.

You have to pay for, you know, like everything that you use in the job.

Sometimes that actually includes some things like all being taken, that they're told that they need a car and then being taken to purchase a car, using quotation marks, On finance, where they've just arrived in the country and the employer and the finance company are kind of working together to try and exploit migrants in that way.

It can be things like not being provided employment agreements, denying access to annual or sick leave.

So not being able to get the employment entitlements that you should be entitled to.

That's things like mileage or overtime or again any of those kinds of requirements that you should normally be entitled to while you are working here in Aotearoa New Zealand.

withholding of wages as a charge for business expenses for example work equipment generally speaking when you are in a job your employer needs to pay for whatever the things are that you need to do your job right it is not your job as an employee to pay for that equipment so generally speaking That's on them, and so if you're being required to pay for that, migrants in particular, then that could be exploitation.

Another one, providing accommodation, which is unsanitary and controlling the employee's living conditions.

There are a bunch of visas in which employees...

Migrants are living and working in a place that the employer controls, so they control both the employment and the accommodation side of things, and so then providing accommodation which is substandard, or using that accommodation as a way to exploit or abuse people.

Exerting actual abuse, emotional, physical abuse, threats, including threatening visa status, retaining and withholding passports, threatening personal or family safety, actual physical violence against employees.

Making non-negotiable changes to employment contracts, compromising your safety due to a lack of health and safety measures, unfair or constructive dismissal of employees and controlling and monitoring movement and communication of employees.

So not letting you talk to each other, making sure that everybody, you know, like has to, all the communication have to go via the employer, etc, etc.

Those are all potentially migrant exploitation.

So it's a kind of continuum of experiences, ranging from breaches of your employment rights through to actual human rights breaches, including sexual exploitation, forced labour, physical violence can also be part of this as well, and there are actual criminal offending sometimes, slavery and people trafficking as well.