Burger King has been banned from hiring migrant workers for a year after it paid one of its managers below the minimum wage.
The company has called it an "isolated issue", but Newshub has tracked down another former manager who claims he too was underpaid.
"It should be a wake-up call for all companies in New Zealand," says national director of Unite Union Mike Treen.
"Check your records, make sure you're keeping records - and ensure you're paying a decent wage."
The problem in this case was that the manager ended up doing overtime she wasn't paid for, and not getting breaks.
Her salary was so close to minimum wage that when you add in the extra hours she worked, she ended up being paid below it.
Part of the problem was that Burger King didn't require managers to register time records of when they started or finished a shift, or if they took breaks.
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The company says it's changing this, and all salaried staff will now be required to clock in and out. It says that will address what it says is an "isolated issue".
But a man whose identity can't be revealed says he was also underpaid while working as a manager.
"It's a very good step taken by Immigration," he says of the company's migrant worker ban.
"And they should know how Burger King used the migrants and the people of New Zealand should know that these kind of fast food chains are using migrants with a very low income, with very low wages."
Burger King is owned by private equity firm Blackstone Group. Last year, the group's chief executive reportedly earned over $700 million.
"That's just greed beyond scale, and it's leading to minimum wage workers in New Zealand being cheated of their minimum entitlements and it's outrageous," says Mr Treen. "We should all be outraged."
Five workers who were in the middle of being processed by Immigration now won't be able to work there, and another five may also face problems as their visas need to be renewed before the end of the year.
If you have more information, contact Michael Morrah at michaelmorrah@newshub.co.nz.
Newshub.
