Introduction
This report is based on an analysis of three articles that report a case study about Bangladesh couple who exploited five victims. The couple is New Zealand citizens who owned the Sweet Shop in Auckland (Anneke, 2019). They were sentenced to a collective seven years for committing several employment exploitations and immigration crimes. These crimes were committed for a period of two years. The most affected employees are two specialist chefs who traveled from Bangladesh to New Zealand to make Bengali sweets that were sold at the court of the couples ([email protected], 2019). These employers intentionally planned to exploit the two chefs, immediately they arrived in New Zealand their travel documents are sophisticated to make them vulnerable.
The employers shamelessly and selfishly subjected the workers to poor working conditions. They did not care about their health and safety. Daily, they worked for fourteen hours throughout the week. The wages were below the generally agreeable pay rates. They were not expected to be absent from work due to whatever reason. If the requested leave they were threatened and blackmailed (John, 2019). One of the chefs had inquired about the renewal of his passports and he learned that no application had been made. This when their story began to surface into public knowledge. The ruling was considered as the beginning of a new era in the hospitality industry in New Zealand.
Findings and analysis
Sweet Shop owners in Auckland exploited five victims for about two years. Two of them were specialist chefs from Bangladesh. They responded to an advert that was placed in Bengali Newspaper of an opportunity to make Bengali Sweets in New Zealand, only to learn that their working condition was worse than expected. They were subjected to long working hours with low wages (Anneke, 2019). They worked fourteen hours a day seven days a week and received six dollars or less per hour .and also they were not paid for all hours they worked. The victims did not receive holiday pay or suffered purposeful miscalculations of holiday recompense. The employers used to intimidate or threaten them to report to the workplace. Exploited workers did not have a social life, they were essentially kept away from their communities. New Zealand court established that the passport of the two chefs was apprehended by the employers as soon as they arrived in the country (John, 2019). The exploitive married couples violated immigration laws, they received a bribe from the two couples for an opportunity to work in New Zealand. The couples also encouraged temporary workers to continue working expired visas violating immigration laws.
The Sweet Shop employers should have established a checklist procedure for employee recruitment and onboard. These are fundamental tools for the management and training of new employees. The employer can avoid any possible litigations that may arise from the process of hiring new employees and business practices (Carter, 2015). Once the employer has identified the hiring need and defined job descriptions. They are usually required to search for, identify, interview, and recruit the desirable talent for the organization (Carter, 2015). This process is usually expensive as it requires a lot of resources and time. The onboarding process helps the organizations to improve new employee engagement, initiate a sense of loyalty among the new workforce, and eventually increase employee retention rate within the organization. This process helps to introduce new employees into the organization’s environment and culture.
The onboarding process commences immediately after the recruitment phase by releasing the offer. After this, it would be prudent for Bangladeshi couples to review the employee details, benefits, organization policies, and set expectations. This helps with building a strong rapport with the new hires. Once the new employees have joined the organization, it is the role of the hiring authority within the organization to make them feel welcomed and comfortable. This requires coordination with all key stakeholders to the organization (Aguinis & Glavas, Journal of Management). Training and orientation introduce new employees into an organization’s goals and practices. To increase efficiency and increased production the employer should review the expectations of the organization and the employees during the first quarter period to ensure they match.
The leadership principles made by Sweet Shop employers did not motivate their employees. Exploiting workers through intimidation and threats does not cause the employees to be exited and enthusiastic when performing their daily tasks within the organization. Working long hours with low wages demoralizes employees and prohibits creativity and innovation within the workplace (Northouse, 2019). To establish a healthy business environment the employers should strive to ensure the workforce is happy, encouraged, and feel accepted. The employers must build trust within the organization, employers should make promises and keep them. Team building and empowerment of team members are key to motivate the workforce. This is achieved through delegation of duties and rewarding achievements within the organization (Northouse, 2019). The managers have to establish effective communication channels where employees can share their feelings, thoughts, and observations. The business practices should in corporate wellness programs to increase productivity, reduce sickie, and absenteeism. When these factors are implemented they help the organization to enjoy peace and safety, since they also help the business and the owners to observe labor laws.
New Zealand legislation influences the nature of the relationship between employers and employees. Sweet Shop employers violated several legal requirements in their dealings. The employer bears a legal obligation to implement employment agreements (Simintzi, et al., 2015). Temporary workers at the Sweet Shop did not sign a written employment agreement with the exploitive couple. The agreement should reflect the collective employment agreements negotiated by the unions. All employees are subjected to receive a minimum hourly wage rate for all the hours they have worked. Sweet Shop employers breached this provision of the law. There is a provision within the New Zealand legislation that allows for 90 days of trials, however, it is subjected to employee consent and should be included in the written agreement (Lazear, 2017). Good faith principle requires both parties to treat each honestly, fairly and mindful of each other, however, the exploitive couple did exercise fairness and honesty when they created poor working conditions worse than the employees’ expectations. Employers in this case study did grant leave or holidays to their workforce, the employees were denied social life and kept from their community. This was against New Zealand’s labor law that requires employers to grant employees a minimum of weeks’ annual leave and eleven public holidays (Simintzi, et al., 2015). Discrimination and harassment are illegal acts in New Zealand, however, the employers subjected the specialist chefs to acts of intimidation and discrimination.
Individual employee understanding is fundamental to reduce or eradicate employment exploitations. There are five fundamental rights for migrant workers that the two specialist chefs from Bangladesh should have used in their defense, to avoid the two periods of suffering and exploitation (Serenko & Bontis, 2016). They had a right to leaves, holiday, written agreements, work-breaks, and fair wages. If they were aware of these provisions in New Zealand laws, they could have reported to the authorities immediately they felt any of their fundamental rights were violated. Law inspector would treat them fairly as they continue to gather evidence for exploitation. They will get an opportunity to apply for another visa even if they were working on an expired visa (Serenko & Bontis, 2016). It was their fault because the employer had seized travel documents immediately they reported working place. And more importantly, they could continue to stay in New Zealand in a better condition as they were waiting to act as witnesses to their employers’ trial(Serenko & Bontis, 2016).
Hospitality organizations face challenges in managing, retaining, and motivating their employees. This is because the nature of jobs in these organizations is associated with high-stress levels and low hourly pay rates. Motivation impacts on the employees’ turnover, productivity, retention, and morale (Al Rahbi, et al., 2017). Hospitality organizations can realize significant changes in their operations if they resolve to keep the workforce enthusiastic and loyal to their jobs. Employers’ loyalty is important for building a good work environment responsible for motivating and managing strategic changes (Al Rahbi, et al., 2017). good wages are essential for motivating workers to support organizational goals. Job security is another principle that contributes to employees’ happiness and motivation.
New Zealand court found the Bangladesh couple guilty of several exploitation and immigration charges after a successful trial. Judge Brooke Gibson jointly sentenced the couple to seven years of imprisonment for all the offenses they committed. This was in good faith to motivate change in the hospitality industry (Grossman, 2017). The New Zealand immigration official commented that the subjecting workers to long hours with low wages, denying employees leaves, and holidays were acts that erode human dignity (Grossman, 2017). This implies that organizations in hospitality industries have to emphasize factors that promote employee motivation within the organizations. They have to ensure that their global business environments are healthy to promote the productivity and happiness of the workers. Instead of engaging in dubious and underhand methods to increase revenue growth by cutting production cost. The organizations should strive to gain a competitive advantage in the market by improving the quality of its products and efficiency in the production process.it is important to adhere to all governing laws.
Conclusions
Employment exploitation is extremely detrimental to both employees and employers. It reduces the employees’ happiness and satisfaction in the workplace and it is also costly to the employers when the matter is taken to a court of law (Marion, 2017). The relationship between employers and employees should be guided by the relevant laws for mutual benefits. Employees can improve their working environments if they strive to gain a legal understanding of their rights and report acts of employment exploitation with the relevant authorities before the amount of loss suffered escalates. The leadership principle is helpful for employers to build a healthy working environment that can adapt and manage new changes in business practices.
All the stakeholders of a business are always interested in the activities of the organization as they are affected in different ways. An organization should endeavor to engage in ethical practices that benefit the majority of the stakeholders (Autor, et al., 2017). There are existing laws and moral codes of conduct within the business environment that should guide business practices. This why the judge prosecuted the exploitive employers and even described one of the employers as shameless in he committed the offenses.
Recommendations
To avoid issues relating to employment exploitation in the future all business organizations need to develop and adopt a suitable checklist for recruitment and onboarding of employees in its practices. They will ensure the organization behaves ethically and avoid unnecessary litigations from the affected stakeholders (Holston-Okae & Mushi, 2018). The process of searching for a desirable talent, recruiting, and training employees is expensive hence the organization needs to employ best practices to retain its workforce. A checklist for recruitment and onboarding of employees helps the management team of an organization to observe relevant laws like employee agreement, remuneration standards, and leave and holiday provisions (Holston-Okae & Mushi, 2018). The onboarding process begins right after the recruitment phase and it helps with improving employees’ productivity and loyalty to the organization.
Effective communication channels are key to any organization. It helps the employees to share their ideas and issues with the management on time (Goh & Lee, 2018). Communication help managers to perform their basic duties of leading and controlling. Employees are motivated when job descriptions, methods to be used and improvement mechanisms are clear within the organization. Effective decision making requires employers to gather information from all organizational members to avoid violating the fundamental rights of any stakeholders. Employers and business managers need to establish good communication channels that encourage socializing within the organization and are effective for sustaining the controlling process (Goh & Lee, 2018). The policies of the organization should be communicated to all employees so that they become aware of the expected business practices and can challenge any unhealthy practices. Recruits should communicate their expectations to employers and ensure they are understood by signing a healthy agreement.
Employees’ motivation is key to realizing revenue growth. It ensures the employees are committed and enthusiastic when performing their daily tasks within the organization. This promotes creativity and innovation which eventually results in increased productivity (Kotera, et al., 2018). Organizations in the hospitality industry should ensure they establish a healthy business environment that can promote and sustain employees’ motivation. They should design their working hours into shifts so that the employees can be granted leaves and holidays in compliance with the legislation requirements (Kotera, et al., 2018). Employers should pay competitive wages, employees should receive at least the minimum pay rates as stipulated in the governing constitutions. The good faith principle should dominate the interactions of employees and employers. When employers treat employees with honesty and good intentions it promotes trust and loyalty, which is effective in keeping the employees motivated and satisfied with the job.
When all these factors are implemented it reduces the likelihood of future issues within the organization. They collectively promote healthy business practices that are necessary for the safety of both the employers and organizations. The employees remain satisfied and motivated. While business organizations and employers avoid unnecessary litigations and incurring loss due to employing dissatisfaction within the organization.
References
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