An Auckland takeaway cook was paid less than $20 an hour to work 63-hour weeks before being abruptly fired because his boss thought he was "too slow".
The Employment Relations Authority ordered takeaway owner Wen Hui Lin to pay $16,236.90 in back wages, holiday pay, compensation, and penalties following the swift dismissal of cook Shaoqiang Chen.
Authority member Robert Davies found that Chen was employed on a permanent, full-time basis at Beached As Takeaways in Flat Bush, Auckland, despite his employer's claims that it was a temporary cash arrangement between friends.
Chen started working at the shop on December 10, 2024, after answering a Mandarin text advertisement. He routinely worked 10.5 to 11 hours a day, six days a week, receiving a flat cash rate of $1200 per week.
The authority calculated this meant Chen’s effective hourly rate dropped as low as $17.39 per hour—well below the New Zealand adult minimum wage of $23.15 per hour.
