Filipino News August 2017

AUGUST 2017. ISSUE 105 | www.filipinonews.nz | email: filipinonews@xtra.co.nz | Facebook: Filipino Migrant News www.pinoynzlife.nz 03
BUHAY
NZ
Undervalued:
Every week, it seems,
there is another story in
the news about an employer
caught exploiting migrant
workers. Overworked, underpaid,
extorted, even
blackmailed; migrant workers
are easily the most vulnerable
in the workforce and
their vulnerability is leveraged
over and over.
The current situation
Conditions in New Zealand
are perfect right now
for exploitation. Business is
tough, especially for small
business, with changes in
legislation across multiple
areas of compliance including
health and safety and
food codes and with fierce
competition and in some
cases oversupply, margins
are tight and it’s a battle to
stay afloat.
At the same time,
Immigration New Zealand’s
rules have tightened and
many migrants who came
here with long-term prospects
are suddenly finding
themselves on the verge of
being sent home.
Deceived by Free Advice
Sadly, New Zealand currently
has an oversupply of
international students and
workers who were lured to
New Zealand by agents and
recruiters offering ‘pathways’
to work and resid
e n c e .
Unfortunately,
those pathways
are seldom as
direct or as easy
as promised, but
this is the risk of
believing that
free advice is
good advice.
Rarely is that the
case.
Over the
course of the last
half decade the
workforce has
been flooded
with ex-students who were
recruited into courses that
purported to give them
‘essential skills’ for New
Zealand. These students,
having poured tens of thousands
of dollars into their
chance at a new life in New
Zealand, are desperate for
jobs that will qualify them
for a visa. But the jobs have
proved hard to come by,
impossible for most, leaving
them with the prospect of
returning home to face enormous
debts, the shame and
embarrassment of having
disappointed their families
and the stigma of having
failed at something so crucial.
An Employer’s Market
The Abuse
of Migrant
Workers
By REW SHEARER
For many employers the
temptation to take advantage
of such a desperate workforce
is irresistible. “I’ll
help you and you help me.”
In return for a visa the
employer gets a worker willing
to work extra hours without
pay, to miss breaks, to do
whatever it takes to make a
good impression and get the
precious sponsorship. It may
seem amicable, a mutual
agreement to the advantage
of both parties, but it is illegal
and it has a cost.
Other employers more
blatantly leverage their
power. Feeding a sense of
debt by pointing to the risks,
hurdles and red tape
involved in supporting a
migrant worker can be a
deliberate tactic to get extra
hours and waived rights
from them: a more sinister
form of migrant worker
abuse.
Where it gets even worse
But there is more. Exploitation
can – and does –
reach the level of extortion
and blackmail, with threats
like, “I will report you to
Immigration, and you’ll go
to jail”. Migrant workers
who are unaware of New
Zealand employment and
immigration laws are especially
vulnerable; they are
easily led to believe that
refusing to work the hours
demanded, quitting their job,
or even leaving their accommodation
without
permission
could
result in
them not
only losing
their
visa, but
in being
penalised,
deported
or jailed.
Clearly
this is a
criminal
breach of
t h e i r
rights and
is taken very seriously by
New Zealand Immigration
and the Police.
On the other side of the
same coin, but equally
guilty, are employers who,
while not bullying, threatening
or extorting workers,
accept money in exchange
for a job. To some migrants,
desperate to stay in New
Zealand, this can seem like
the only solution and it is
surprisingly common; tens
of thousands of dollars can
change hands for this reason.
Not only are all of these
forms of worker exploitation
and abuse illegal, but they
have an impact that is felt by
many.
The Victims
Photo by Rew Shearer
features a model
First and foremost, of
course, the migrants themselves
– who are being
cheated of their rights, however
you look at it. But there
are flow-on consequences,
too ... for other migrants,
who miss out on opportunities
because they’re not prepared
to cheat the system,
for other employers, because
they can’t compete with
businesses that pay below
the minimum wage for staff,
for New Zealand workers,
who miss out on jobs
because migrants will do the
same work for less pay. And
finally, there is an impact on
New Zealand and its reputation
around the world for
being fair and honest.
In most cases, workers
who have been exploited are
offered some level of protection
by New Zealand
Immigration. If you know of
a worker being exploited
then you can contact any of
the following:
New Zealand Immigration -
0508 558 855
Crimestoppers (anonymous)
– 0800 555 111 or www.
crimestoppers.co.nz
Ministry of Business, Innovation
and Employment
(MBIE) – 0800 20 90 20
Rew Shearer is the Marketing
Manager of Immigration
Assist Ltd.
MIGRANT JOB BOARD
LAUNCHED ACROSS
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