Tokoroa Turkish kebab and pizza shop owner admits ripping off migrant staff

The Turkish Kebab & Pizza Express business owned and operated by Ercan Ates. Photo / NZME

A Tokoroa kebab and pizza shop owner grossly underpaid migrant workers doing 66-hour weeks then made them pay back part of their salaries claiming he could no longer afford them.

Ercan Ates and his business Ates Trading Limited, which operates Turkish Kebabs and Pizza Express on Swanston St in Tokoroa have pleaded guilty in the Rotorua District Court to 18 charges relating to exploiting workers.

The three workers are collectively owed about $160,000 due to breaches of the Holidays Act, Minimum Wage Act and Wage Protection Act.

Court documents released to the Rotorua Daily Post said Ates was in charge of the day-to-day restaurant operations including hiring, rostering and paying employees. He carried out all offending of Ates Trading Ltd.

The business employed three fulltime migrant workers on work visas for periods between 2017 and 2021.

Their contracts said they were to work between at least 30 and 40 hours a week but all three worked about 66 hours a week over six days.

They were only paid the approximate hours in their contracts,which meant they were paid less than the minimum wage for the hours they actually worked.

They were owed thousands in unpaid hours worked, holiday pay, public holiday pay and for unnecessarily repaying Ates.

Kiranjot Kaur owed nearly $117,000 from her employment over more than three years; Rupinder Kaur was employed for 10 months and was owed just over $31,000; and Sunita Rani was owed nearly $12,700 from the four months she worked.

Three years, no holidays

Kiranjot Kaur was employed from April 2017 until August 2020. She started on $17.50 an hour and was to work at least 30 hours a week.

She was promoted to store manager in May 2018 with a new salary of $26 an hour working at least 40 hours a week.

She continued to work 66-hour weeks but never received more than $860 a week despite her new contract.

If she had been paid minimum wage for the actual hours she worked, she would be owed about $83,000. If she was paid her actual contracted wage, she would be entitled to a lot more.

Ercan Ates and his company, Ates Trading Ltd, will be sentenced in the Rotorua District Court in February. Photo / NZME

Over more than three years she was not given any paid holidays despite being entitled to four weeks a year.

She also was not paid properly for working public holidays.

Paid for half the hours worked

Rupinder Kaur was hired in July 2020 and contracted to work at least 40 hours a week on $23.50 an hour.

Her pay increased to $25.60 an hour when she was promoted to chef de partie.

However, she continued to work 66 hours a week and was only paid for 40 hours.

In March 2021, her hours reduced to five days a week on doctor’s recommendation, which meant she was working about 50 hours a week. But instead, Ates paid her between 25 and 35 hours a week.

She didn’t receive a gross wage over $1024 and when her days reduced she received weekly wages between $640 and $896. She left in May 2021.

If paid minimum wage for her actual hours, she would be owed $23,087.09 and much more if paid at her contracted rate.

She was also owed holiday pay and for underpaid public holidays and sick leave.

Visa raised when worker spoke up

Sunita Rani was contracted to work for at least 40 hours a week on an hourly rate of $25.50. She was employed from October 2020 until February 2021.

Rani is owed $1173 for alternative holiday pay and $886 for arrears for unpaid public holidays and time-and-a-half.

Ates told Rani she needed to work between 10am and 10pm six days a week. The summary said Rani thought she would be paid for all her hours but she was only paid for 40 hours a week.

Ercan Ates from Turkish Kebab and Pizza Express in Tokoroa ripped off his workers. Photo / NZME

When she confronted Ates, he told her she needed to work hard if she wanted his support to obtain her next visa.

If she were paid minimum wage rates, which were $18.90 at that time, she would be owed $8982 in outstanding wages based on the hours she worked.

Boss asks staff to pay back wages

Shortly after Kiranjot Kaur was promoted to store manager, Ates told her she needed to pay back the pay rise amount as he could no longer afford it – or risk losing her job. He told her to pay back $150 a week.

To disguise the repayments, he had her buy groceries for the business with her own money and later repay him in cash. She was owed $8233.76 from this.

Shortly after Rupinder Kaur was promoted, she got the same demand. Ates sought repayments at $130 a week and told her he would call Immigration New Zealand to have her visa cancelled if she refused.

He reduced the repayments to $39 a week when her hours of work reduced. She was owed $3575 for the money she gave back to Ates.

About a month after Rani started working for Ates, he claimed he could no longer afford her contractual rate and sought repayment.

He told her to pay $127 a week but to reference the payments as “rent”. She was owed $1653 for this.

Ates and his company will be sentenced on February 17 next year.

Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.