Foreign worker who paid $25K to land job in Canada awarded $115K by tribunal

Karin Larsen · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 12, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

A idiosyncratic from India who claimed helium had to wage $25,000 to get a occupation astatine a motortruck repair institution successful Richmond, B.C., wherever helium was shorted wages, has been awarded $115,574.69 by the B.C. Employment Standards Tribunal.

The determination besides calculated the wealth A J Boyal Truck Repair Ltd. of Richmond, B.C., was deemed to owe mechanic Harminder Singh overtime, including statutory vacation and abrogation wage helium ne'er received, on with accrued interest.

In her 70-page determination, Shannon Corregan, delegate of the manager of Employment Standards, details however Singh arrived successful Canada successful March of 2018 connected a visitant visa earlier deciding helium wanted to enactment successful Canada. 

Singh's relative enactment him successful interaction with Sarvpreet Boyal, the sole manager of A J Boyal Truck Repair Ltd. The institution had a occupation opening for a mechanic and had precocious obtained a Labour Market Impact Assessment, which allowed it to prosecute 4 impermanent overseas workers arsenic motortruck and transport mechanics. 

Singh signed an employment declaration with Boyal and past returned to India for a month. On his instrumentality to Canada, helium obtained a enactment licence astatine the borderline and started moving astatine the institution successful July 2018. He near the occupation successful October 2019.

Singh alleged he was required to wage Boyal $25,000 to unafraid his employment. The archetypal instalment of $10,000 was paid successful cash, helium claims. The remaining $15,000 was provided done cheques written by Singh's relative and made retired to 1 of Boyal's friends.

The Employment Standards Act states that a idiosyncratic indispensable not request, complaint oregon receive, straight oregon indirectly, outgo for employment from a idiosyncratic seeking employment.

Employer not credible, justice says

In ruling successful Singh's favour, Corregan recovered that some Boyal and his lawyer, Pir Indar Paul Singh Sahota, were not credible successful their submissions, describing their grounds and behaviour successful assorted parts of the ruling arsenic "obstructive", "unprofessional", and "inconsistent."

"Mr. Boyal's grounds was contradictory connected cardinal issues. He changed his grounds erstwhile faced with the antagonistic implications of his claims. Some of his claims were prima facie unbelievable. Some of his claims contradicted A J Boyal's ain documentary evidence," states the determination.

"I find that Mr. Boyal was not a credible witness. Where his grounds conflicts with Mr. Singh's, I similar Mr. Singh's testimony," she said.

Conflicting grounds astir the fig of days and hours Singh worked during his employment was presented during proceedings, with some sides accusing the different of falsifying records. 

Corregan yet sided with Singh's account, aft a documents adept brought by his counsel, Jonathon Braun, ineligible manager astatine the Migrant Workers Centre, recovered Boyal's records to beryllium suspect. 

At contented was a spiral notebook oregon "register," Boyal claimed, where employees recorded and signed disconnected connected their regular hours.

However, the adept concluded that Singh's signatures successful the registry were "not genuine" and that each entries "were written by a azygous person, not aggregate people."

CBC reached retired to Boyal for remark but did not perceive backmost by clip of publication.

In calculating what was owed, the determination granted Singh conscionable $15,000 of the $25,000 helium paid to get the job.

Corregan said she could not see the $10,000 currency due to the fact that that outgo fell extracurricular the betterment play considered by the tribunal.

The colony breaks down arsenic follows: 

• Wages - $24,032.13.
• Overtime - $44,256.24.
• Statutory vacation wage - $2,505.76. 
• Annual abrogation wage - $4,585.38.
• Length of work compensation - $2,300.42.
• Charge for obtaining employment - $15,000.
• Accrued involvement - $22,894.76

A J Boyal Truck Repair was besides assessed mandatory administrative penalties totalling $4,000 for 8 abstracted contraventions of the Employment Standards Act. 

Singh's complaints were primitively adjudicated by the Employment Standards Tribunal successful 2023. At that time, the institution was ordered to wage him $3,149.39 successful wages and $2,000 successful administrative penalties. 

However, Singh successfully appealed the determination successful 2024, and it was sent backmost for a 2nd investigation.