Travellers exploited through volunteer scheme fed from supermarket waste bins

Wednesday, 10 January 2018

Workers who lived at this Old Tai Tapu Rd property described inhumane conditions, including having to sleep in a small storage room under the stairs without proper ventilation or a heater.

A Christchurch organic farm that exploited thousands of young travellers through a volunteer labour scheme and routinely fed them from supermarket waste bins is facing hefty penalties.

The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) has ruled that Robinwood Farms operated by Julia Osselton must pay two workers $2600 each, plus interest, for wages arrears and holiday pay.

A Facebook page photo of workers socialising at Robinwood Farm, which was the focus of a Labour Inspectorate investigation into exploitation of volunteer labour.

The ERA has yet to make a decision on penalties, but Labour Inspectorate national manager Stu Lumsden said Robinwood Farms could still be liable for up to $20,000 per employee per breach.

Evidence was given that the so-called volunteers at the small organic farm in Old Tai Tapu Rd worked up to 40 hours a week, and were often hired out to do gardening or cut firewood for Osselton's businesses.

Julia Osselton, shown here in 2007 with rescuers after surviving a 60m plunge off a bluff on the West Coast, employed thousands of unpaid workers in her businesses including a Karamea holiday home.

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In return they received food and accommodation and were paid $120 per week, regardless of how many hours they worked.

Living conditions were described as 'inhumane.'

Witness statements provided to the ERA by described how workers slept in a small storage room under the stairs without proper ventilation or a heater, and they were fed spoilt meat and food collected from supermarket waste bins.

Last year in another ERA case Osselton's Karamea Holiday Homes – placed in liquidation in November – agreed to pay a Spanish worker more than $20,500 in wages and holiday pay.

The latest ERA finding said Osselton relied heavily on unpaid, predominantly overseas, workers recruited online, and she had told a Labour inspector more than 1000 people a year worked on her properties in exchange for accommodation and food.

Lumsden said it appeared that the scheme had been operating for about three years, so thousands of travellers were potentially exploited.

'It is not acceptable for businesses to attempt to evade their obligations by calling their workers volunteers and simply rewarding them with a bed and some food.

'This practice is unfair to businesses that do follow the law and pay their employees, and takes advantage of the good nature of travellers who may not know their employment rights.'

Lumsden said any workers 'being rewarded in a business at whatever level' were considered employees and minimum employment standards apply.

The inspectorate began investigating in early 2016 after a client who used Osselton's landscaping and gardening services became concerned about whether workers were being paid.

The case was closed after Osselton said they were volunteers and there was no documentation available to review.

It was reopened a short time later after the inspector found job advertisements Osselton had posted on the internet referring to duties, hours of work, and remuneration financially and in-kind.

When interviewed she claimed the $120 per week payment was for refuelling a farm vehicle the workers used, and she said they were volunteers or WOOFers (Willing Workers On Organic Farms) taking part in a cultural and skill-based exchange.

The two workers receiving compensation in the latest case – New Zealander Rachael Mcgowan and Chinese traveller Huikun Quan – both spent several months as the farm's 'head honcho' in 2015, but did not have employment agreements, and did not receive minimum wages or holiday pay.

Osselton hit the news in 2007 when she walked away unscathed after her car plunged 60 metres off the Karamea Bluff north of Westport, and at that stage she was a full time MBA student.

The Robinwood Farm Facebook page describes it as a 'lovely place with a 'warm and comfortable home' and 'wonderful hosts,' along with a menagerie that included pigs, ducks, alpacas, Lavender the cow, Milo the goat and Ruck the crazy dog.

According the home page 'both short and longer stays are available, most woofers want to stay longer, as they have such a good time'.

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