The two liquor barons who have mansions and underpaid staff

Friday, 21 February 2020

Hardeep Singh, pictured outside Woolston Super Liquor, owned by his friend Harjit Singh, after an aggravated robbery in 2015.

Bottle store staff are among the country's most exploited workers – and liquor licensing authorities are partly to blame.

That is the message from workplace watchdog the Labour Inspectorate, as it emerges yet another liquor store tycoon has come under scrutiny for underpaying staff.

Work is under way on Hardeep Singh's multimillion-dollar mansion in Christchurch.

Last week Super Liquor Holdings terminated its contracts with Nekita Enterprises Ltd, run by Harjit and Shereen Singh, after a Labour Inspectorate investigation found the company had paid several staff less than the minimum wage, while planning a multimillion-dollar Christchurch mansion. Super Liquor will strip its branding from their 15 stores in Christchurch, Methven Ashburton.

Stuff can reveal Harjit Singh's friend, Hardeep Singh – who with his wife Gauravjot Kaur owns 10 bottle stores and two retirement villages through their companies – failed to pay former restaurant staff wages and holiday pay over several years, totalling $50,000, across three Employment Relations Authority (ERA) cases.

From left, Harjit Singh, and on the right Hardeep Singh.

Hardeep Singh and his wife Gauravjot Kaur pictured in 2013.

* Super Liquor franchisee Nekita Enterprises 'exploited staff'

* 'Heinous' offending: Bottle store owners fined $200,000 for exploiting staff

Homestead Ilam Home and Hospital on Ilam Rd, owned by Hardeep Singh and Gauravjot Kaur, is worth $3.3m.

* How the liquor store industry is riddled with worker exploitation**

The couple also own a multimillion-dollar property portfolio, including a partly-constructed 1095-square-metre mansion on a 17,000sqm property in the exclusive Magdalen Estates in Yaldhurst. Building consent documents reveal plans for a seven-bedroom, two-storey mansion with a theatre, wine cellar, games room and sauna.

Hardeep Singh and his wife Gauravjot Kaur own Bloomfield Court Retirement Home in Woodend.

Employee complaints were also brought to the Labour Inspectorate's attention in 2018 about one of Hardeep Singh's companies, Big Daddy's Liquor, a spokesperson confirmed.

The complaint alleged payment of premiums (paying staff the correct hourly rate then forcing them to pay some back), paying staff less than what was contractually agreed to, and paying less than minimum wage.

'While witnesses came forward to the Inspectorate, they were not prepared to make a formal statement to support their allegations, so the matter could not progress.

'A previous complaint was investigated in 2015, but the investigation was discontinued for similar reasons.'

A person mows the lawn at Hardeep Singh's property in Pound Rd.

Labour Inspectorate regional manager Callum McMillan said the retail sector, including bottle stores, had been found to have a higher risk of employment law breaches.

In the last couple of years, the Inspectorate carried out more than 60 investigations into bottle stores and found a non-compliance rate of about 40 per cent, he said.

Records show Harjit Singh's section, where his proposed mansion will be built, is worth an estimated $1.45 million. (Composite image).

'This ranges from issues with record-keeping, to more serious breaches like paying below the minimum wage and seeking payments from workers to secure employment.

'This is a deeply concerning trend. It undermines the rights of workers and undercuts businesses that are doing the right thing.'

Harjit Singh and his wife Shereen last year lodged plans with the Christchurch City Council to build one of the city's grandest and most expensive homes.

He said many non-compliant employers were part of recognised brands, 'which appear to have no effective measures in place to provide assurance that legal requirements are being met'.

The ERA cases related to Hardeep Singh's company Punjabi Dhaba Limited, which had restaurants in Auckland and Christchurch. The company later changed its name to Kenny Omen Limited.

Migrant Workers' Association's Anu Kaloti talks to Radio Tarana's Vandhna Bhan about migrant worker exploitation issues. (Video first published November 2019)

In two of the cases, released in May 2019, Singh claimed he supplemented the wages deposited into the employees' accounts with cash payments. He further claimed the statutory holidays the employees claimed were not days the restaurant opened.

The ERA said Singh was an 'experienced businessman' and it was difficult to reconcile that with the absence of clear wage payment records.

Kenny Omen Limited went into liquidation a month later, citing difficult trading conditions.

The liquidators estimated there would be no funds available for unsecured creditors.

A six-monthly report, released in December, showed Inland Revenue had a $50,000 claim, two employees had claims of $42,000, and one unsecured creditors' claim was about $192,000.

Hardeep Singh and Kaur own a vacant property in Whitford, Auckland, worth $1.3m, a Super Liquor in Timaru worth $650,000, the Bloomfield Court Retirement Home in Rangiora worth $1.5m, and the Homstead Ilam retirement village in Christchurch worth $3.3m.

They own a commercial building in Edgeware worth $830,000 and another piece of land with several shops on site, including a Super Liquor in Linwood worth $1.1m.

They appear to be living in a barn on the back of their Yaldhurst property until the home is finished.

Kaur declined to comment when approached on Friday. Hardeep Singh had earlier agreed to speak in person, but later said he was unable to as he had just returned from India. His lawyers said he'd asked them to respond in a more 'detailed fashion' next week and hinted at potential legal action if it ran this story.

District licensing authorities consider applicants' character and reputation when granting liquor licences.

McMillan said the Labour Inspectorate wanted minimum employment standard compliance to be a requirement too.

'When district licensing committees grant liquor licences to non-compliant employers, then they have a hand in enabling and normalising the exploitation of workers.'

Super Liquor Holdings chief executive Campbell McMahon said the company learned of one ERA decision relating to Hardeep Singh only late last year.

He said there was 'no excuse' for franchisees not meeting their legal obligations and the firm took a 'zero tolerance' approach.

Political activist John Minto said wage theft should be treated more seriously than property theft. 'These people are stealing the livelihoods of people.'