Franchise owner accused of making employee pay premiums worth more than NZ$7,000
A franchise owner of Domino's Pizza in New Zealand has been sentenced to home detention for 10 months due to "serious exploitation" of an employee, among other offences.
Chang-Wei Tsao, also known as David Tsao, was the former owner of the Domino's Pizza franchise in Kaiapoi. He became the subject of investigation after Immigration New Zealand received complaints that an employee in his franchise was working in breach of their visa conditions.
According to investigators, Tsao forced a migrant employee to work beyond their visa expiry date.
He also made three student visa holders work beyond the 20 hours per week that they were entitled to while studying.
Tsao also engaged in "serious exploitation" of another employee, involving underpayment of wages and leave, as reported by Immigration NZ. The employee was required to pay unlawful premiums, totalling NZD$7,061.98.
As a result, he faced six charges, including one related to migrant exploitation, that he pleaded guilty to.
In addition to home detention, Tsao was also ordered to pay reparations to his victims.
Steve Watson, MBIE's General Manager Immigration Compliance and Investigations, said the case sends a strong message that breaching the law and exploiting migrant workers will not be tolerated.
"I' incredibly proud of the hard work by our investigators in this case and the empathetic approach they took when dealing with these vulnerable migrants who had been deliberately taken advantage of by their employer," Watson said in a statement.
"We take all complaints of migrant exploitation very seriously and any migrant who thinks they are being exploited should contact MBIE on 0800 20 00 88 or via our reporting migrant exploitation webpage."
