A North Shore food court has been ordered to pay five migrant workers almost $127,000 in arrears after they were paid less than minimum wage for long shifts without sick leave.
The Food City Limited establishment, in Northcote, also has to pay a $37,500 penalty imposed by the Employment Relations Authority in a ruling last week.
The decision comes after an investigation was launched by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's Labour Inspectorate.
The breaches found included a failure to pay minimum wage and holiday pay to the group of Chinese cleaners, who were all permanent New Zealand residents.
Labour inspectorate regional manager David Milne said the penalties and arrears awarded against the employer should send a strong message to others that this sort of exploitation of workers would not be tolerate.