Motel owner gets 7.5 months home detention for migrant worker exploitation

Jian Li will serve seven and a half months in home detention after the Christchurch District Court sentenced him on Wednesday. The former motel owner pleaded guilty to seven charges of migrant exploitation under the Immigration Act. The sentence follows a plea entered in May while Li was out of the country.

Li operated Fei Huang Teng Da, which trades as the 315 Motel Riccarton. Immigration New Zealand investigated the company and found that four migrant workers served as motel managers between February 2017 and December 2021. These employees were required to live on site and staff the reception desk daily from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. The investigation determined they worked between 84 and 98 hours each week.

Despite these long shifts, the workers were generally paid for only 40 hours per week. The court ordered Fei Huang Teng Da to pay just over $115,000 in reparation to the four victims. This payment covers denied minimum wage amounts and missed entitlements under the Holidays Act.

Immigration New Zealand stated that the staff ran the motel from morning until night, seven days a week. The agency noted that the workers were denied annual leave and extra pay for public holidays. "They were essentially running the motel from morning until night, seven days a week, while being paid for only a fraction of the hours they worked," the agency said.

Li's lawyer asked the court for community detention, but the judge rejected that option due to the seriousness of the offending. Three of the four workers remain in New Zealand on valid visas, while the fourth has left the country. The workers relied on their employers for both employment and the right to stay in the country.

Immigration New Zealand emphasized that employers cannot gain a financial advantage by cutting corners. "Employers who take advantage of workers who rely on them for both their job and their right to stay in New Zealand will be punished," the agency stated. All workers in New Zealand are entitled to minimum rights and protections regardless of their visa status.

The sentencing marks the conclusion of the case against the Fei Huang Teng Da company. The reparation payment will go directly to the four individuals who worked as managers at the Riccarton motel.