A church has been ordered to pay $164,000 to exploit migrant labourers
The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) has found that directors of a church in New Zealand that was set up to promote and advance Christianity used vulnerable migrant workers for their own gain.
A ruling from the ERA on Tuesday says that the trustees of the Jesus Aroma Church must pay more than $164,000 because they took advantage of two vulnerable migrant workers. In return for jobs, the pair had to pay premiums or fees.
The ERA named Victoria Jeon, Joseph Jeon, and Mi Sun Leem, the church directors. They got money from Korean churches and hired a pastor and immigrant, Song Choi as a teacher at the Dunedin Taekwondo Academy.
Part of his job was to clean the building and help the kids get ready for class. The school was a business that the trustees of the church ran.
Song was supposed to be a pastor at the church, but instead, he worked as an assistant to Andrew Jeon, a qualified Taekwondo teacher who was also used.
The ERA told the trustees to give Song $71,848 in back wages and vacation pay, plus the $64,172 extra that Song had already paid to the trustees.
The trustees were told to pay the teacher, Jeon, $49,634 for the premium he had already paid and any interest still due. The ERA also told the trustees to pay $42,750 as a fine for breaking minimum job standards.
The trust that ran the church lost its registration in September 2022 because it had not met its responsibilities under the Charities Act for a long time.
Its most current tax return, for the year ending in 2019, showed that church services brought in $192,489, which included $40,000 in tithing and $40,000 in "Tae Kwon Do Subscription."
Stu Lumsden of the Labour Inspectorate said it was a complicated plan by the owners, who were after migrant workers who were weak.
The situation was bad for these migrant workers, whose visas were tied to the employer who decided to break New Zealand employment laws.
Also, these workers needed help and needed to know what they agreed to because the contracts were written in English, which wasn't their first language.
Lumsden said that the trustees' failure to give pay and time records clearly breached their duties.
The case is happening while the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment looks into the abuse of temporary migrant workers.
It also comes after the Worker Safety (Migrant and Other Employees) Bill, which will be passed by 2022. This bill will give migrant worker communities more safety and help.
