New Zealand’s Employment Relations Authority has ordered horticultural contractor NZ Dream Contracting Limited and its sole director Gurpreet Singh to repay two migrant workers NZ$23,220 (US$13,600) following breaches of minimum wage, holiday pay, and wages protection requirements.
Kulvinder Singh and Jaskaran Singh arrived in New Zealand from India in mid-2023 on Accredited Employer Work Visas. Although employed for administrative and machine operating roles, both worked as pruners in Bay of Plenty kiwifruit orchards, including seven-day working weeks and public holidays.
Jaskaran received no wages for his first month of work in September 2023. The authority also found he was instructed to withdraw NZ$1,500 (US$880) and return it to the company to cover tax on his wages.
Kulvinder worked up to 59.5 hours per week without receiving time-and-a-half or alternative days for work on public holidays.
The authority rejected weekly timesheets supplied by NZ Dream as “demonstratively inaccurate and therefore unreliable” and instead relied on photographs, location records, and daily timesheets maintained by the workers.
NZ Dream was ordered to pay Kulvinder NZ$13,101.65 (US$7,670) and Jaskaran NZ$10,117.85 (US$5,920) in wage arrears, holiday pay, deductions, and reimbursement of the cash payment.
The ruling follows an earlier decision ordering NZ Dream to repay NZ$104,000 (US$60,900) to the same workers over pre-employment payments. Penalties and legal costs will be determined separately.
Frontpage photo:
© Isabel Poulin | Dreamstime
Source: stuff.co.nz
Publication date:
Tue 8 Sep 2026
