Robinwood Farms fined $45k for exploiting 'volunteers'

The company was found to have used young travellers as a source of cheap labour. Photo/123RF.

A Christchurch farm has been stung with a $46k by the Employment Relations Authority for "exploiting" volunteer workers.

Robinwood Farms was found to have breached the rights of workers who its owner Julia Osselton claimed were "volunteers", the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (Mbie) said today.

The case followed a probe by a Labour Inspectorate.

"The ERA agreed with the Inspectorate this was a clear and unequivocal case of worker exploitation which the employer attempted to hide under the guise of providing a 'WWOOFing' experience," Labour Inspectorate regional manager David Milne said in a statement.

"Due to the poor nature of the records kept, it will be difficult to ever know the true level of exploitation which occurred on the farm – though Osselton herself suggested she had over a thousand people travel through her business every year."

The Crown and two workers who were witnesses in the case will share the $45.9k penalty.

Mbie said this was the second such award made by the ERA against Osselton's businesses for her use of volunteers, with more than $20,000 paid to a Spanish worker employed by Karamea Holiday Homes.

A $5000 penalty was also paid in that case.

"Wherever a worker is being rewarded in a business at whatever level, the Labour Inspectorate's starting position is that these people are employees and minimum employment standards apply, including being paid at least the minimum wage for every hour worked," says Milne.

"Not only does exploitation take advantage of workers, it undermines businesses which do meet their obligations, and endangers the reputation of New Zealand as a fair place to live, work, and do business.

"Any other businesses making use of volunteer workers should take note of this case, and as both the Inspectorate and the ERA have made clear – workers have a fundamental right to be paid for all the work that they do."

Robinwood Farms is said to have exploited "thousands" of travellers through its volunteer scheme, according to Employment New Zealand.

The Labour Inspectorate's investigation found volunteers at the farm in Tai Tapu worked up to 40 hours per week cutting firewood and doing garden work, paid $120 per week in addition to food and accommodation.

Workers were not given employment agreements or paid minimum wage and annual leave entitlements.

A former worker described the living conditions of 'volunteers' at the property as 'inhumane', with many sleeping in a small storage room under the stairs without proper ventilation or a heater.

The Inspectorate was told volunteers were often supplied food collected from waste bins at supermarkets and spoiled meat.