Japanese visitor pays $2400 to work for no pay in Christchurch

A Japanese woman who is working for nothing at a Christchurch hotel is warning other migrants not to get caught up in the same scheme.

Kayoko Sakamoto, 25, desperate to work in New Zealand to improve her English, paid $2400 to the East Wind agency in Christchurch to secure the job at the Centra Hotel.

The money, which represented nearly all her savings, bought her a job working eight hours a day for nothing at the $185-a-night hotel, where she serves breakfast and lunch and cleans.

Ms Sakamoto says she felt she had to come forward to stop other migrants falling into the same trap.

Centra Hotel's human resources manager, Marama Wallace, said Ms Sakamoto was offered a three-month "work experience" placement and the hotel was unaware she had paid East Wind. It is now considering paying her and another Japanese intern.

Ms Sakamoto, who arrived in New Zealand a month ago, has a working visa but says neither the hotel nor East Wind asked to see her documents, or required her to complete standard employment documentation.

She knew she would not get paid when she signed up, believing that was "normal".

When a Japanese man was paid to work at the hotel, she became suspicious.

"I did not feel cheated at first, but when I found this man was being paid about $300 a week I thought it wasn't fair. When I first went to East Wind, I thought it was okay. I thought it was normal.

"I didn't think about money, I wanted experience of working with New Zealanders and using English. I thought it was better than going to a language school.

"I saved for four years to come here, and now most of my money is gone."

East Wind manager Katsumi Okoshi said the firm was not doing anything wrong.

"What we are doing is legal. They are volunteers. It is right."

Mr Okoshi said between 60 and 70 Japanese students applied to East Wind every week and a weekly fee of up to $60 was required of them.

He said there were 4000 people on the books.

Ms Wallace said she did not wish to comment on the ethics of the issue. She said the hotel would now review its relationship with East Wind.

Christchurch resident Katrina Fisher took Ms Sakamoto in after she found her wandering the city streets lost and looking for somewhere to live following her arrival last month for her year-long stay.

When the Fisher family told her she could stay, Ms Sakamoto burst into tears with relief.

The Fishers do not charge her rent, and they feed her. Without them, Ms Sakamoto says she would be "nowhere".

Ms Fisher said: "It's a scandal. She has been taken advantage of. It should not be allowed to happen.

"Companies like East Wind are not only taking Japanese people for a ride they are taking jobs away from Kiwis."

- NZPA