Migrant workers pay thousands for visas, only to be left without jobs
Summary
Date Reported: 14 Jun 2023
Location: New Zealand
Companies
DJ Hotels - EmployerOther
Not Reported ( Recruitment agencies ) - RecruiterAffected
Total individuals affected: 1
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 1 - China , Hotel , Gender not reported )Issues
Recruitment Fees , Right to Food , Poverty Wages , Precarious/Unsuitable Living ConditionsResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
External link to response: (Find out more)
Action taken: DJ Hotels director told Indian Weekender he had done nothing wrong.
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 14 Jun 2023
Location: New Zealand
Companies
Beaver Homes - EmployerOther
Not Reported ( Recruitment agencies ) - RecruiterAffected
Total individuals affected: 1
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 1 - China , Construction , Men , Documented migrants )Issues
Dismissal , Recruitment FeesResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
External link to response: (Find out more)
Action taken: The company director denied this and said he was aware that paying for work visas was common among the 20-30 workers he had hired during the previous year.
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 14 May 2023
Location: New Zealand
Other
Not Reported ( Construction ) - EmployerAffected
Total individuals affected: 1
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 1 - China , Construction , Women , Documented migrants )Issues
Access to Information , Recruitment Fees , Contract SubstitutionResponse
Response sought: No
Action taken: None reported.
Source type: News outlet
Dozens of Chinese migrant workers are being left jobless and out-of-pocket after paying thousands of dollars for work visas, only to be given no work or dismissed by their employer shortly after they arrive in New Zealand.
Most of them have come into the country on the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) scheme, which started in July last year and was designed to help reduce exploitation. It required companies hiring overseas workers to show paperwork proving they were good migrant employers.
The visa abuse has been noticed by multiple agencies, including Immigration New Zealand (INZ), the Chinese Embassy and several community service groups...
Pastry cook Kesha Kong paid the equivalent of about $14,000 to an agent for her work visa.
In China, she met Johnson Yang who worked for a labour export company in the northern city of Weihai.
Kong said after arriving in Dunedin in late March, she had been given almost no work by her visa-tied accredited employer DJ Hotels Ltd...
DJ Hotels director Liu Jia said he had done nothing wrong, he could not initially give Kong work because of the delays opening a new store and she had no bank account or IRD number...
Sun Fudong was told his skills did not meet expectations and was given four weeks' notice to leave.
The 39-year-old came here to work as a concrete carpenter for accredited employer Beaver Homes Ltd, even though he had no experience.
He claimed both the agent and the employer told him that it did not matter when they interviewed him in August last year, and Sun paid the equivalent of around $16,000 for his visa to the agent in China...
But the director of the company Huang Lei, denied saying this, and denied getting a cut from the agent...