Xuefeng Yang arrived in New Zealand with a contract promising at least 30 hours a week at $29.66 an hour. Within weeks, his Auckland construction job was over.
Stuff reported on 28 September 2026 that the Employment Relations Authority ordered ERA Home Ltd to pay Yang $23,000 in compensation and $8,008.20 in lost wages and holiday pay. It also imposed a $3,000 penalty payable to the Crown.
Yang was recruited in China in 2023 and arrived that June on an Accredited Employer Work Visa. He told the authority he was paid cash at $18 an hour. He was dismissed on 2 July for allegedly not following orders.
Authority member Sarah Blick found the employer had not investigated its concerns or given Yang a chance to respond. His visa restrictions prevented him from lawfully taking another employer’s job; he returned to China that September.
Other claims failed. The authority rejected recovery of a Chinese agency fee and personal liability against the company’s director because the evidence was insufficient.
Source: Stuff, 28 September 2026. English summary prepared on 11 October 2026.
