Quote Originally Posted by minimoke View Post
The same can be said for immigration. The only reason takeaways are as cheap as they are is due to the illegal migrants working out the back or staff who are paid well under statutory minimums. IRD misses out on loads of tax due to the cash nature of these businesses.
In many cases the employees are legally allowed to work but require the employment as a condition of their pending application for permanent residency. Often their employers take advantage of this. I came across an employer just last week who told two (legal) chinese workers they would now be paid 35 hours for their 45 hour work week because business was bad. As both had pending PR applications, they were too scared to rock the boat and risk losing employment so accepted the pay cut. Two workers who already had residency did not get the pay cut. The employer, also a Chinese national resident in NZ driving expensive cars and owning a nice home, belongs to a family whose net worth is in excess of US$100m. Not the kindest advertisment for capitalism (although I suspect a fair representation of chinese capitalism) and not the sort of concept the endears them to a non capital gains environment. Also (now) not my client.

Almost immediately across the road, a Korean restaurant owner has played similar games with two Korean staff, while Kiwi staff and Korean staff with PR status avoided this treatment.

...and I feel I'm fast running out of establishments where I feel morally comfortable just buying a coffee...