Bay pair's kiwifruit app aims to combat worker exploitation

Shlok Kant and Tajinder Singh have developed a new kiwifruit app in a bid to reduce exploitation in the industry. Photo/John Borren

Two Bay men hope an app they have developed to track worker movements and hours on orchard will help combat exploitation.

This month Bay of Plenty kiwifruit contractors were slammed by the Labour Inspectorate after an operation found 53 per cent of those audited had failed to meet all minimum employment standards such as employment agreements and paying at least the minimum wage. One owed at least $25,000 to workers.

Kiwihort app founder Tajinder Singh said he had worked in the kiwifruit industry for 10 years in various roles, including a contractor, before switching to IT - and there was ''a lot of exploitation going on left, right and centre''.

The industry needed to crack down on the issue.

Mr Singh said the app, which had been trialled and would be launched soon, focused on accountability and could be accessed by orchardists, contractors and kiwifruit workers.

Data collected was designed to gather information including hours worked, pay rates and the number of people working on an orchard at any time through a portal manager.

Kiwifruit workers would start and finish their work day by logging on and off with their fingerprint instead of time sheets and the technology would have an HR tool.

''Everything happens backwards now on a piece of paper and you can write whatever you like. This [new app] means everyone is connected to each other and knows what is going on.''

Business manager Shlok Kant said it had met with organisations including the Inland Revenue and in the future, it hoped to provide a job portal.

New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers chief executive Nikki Johnson said the organisation was open to any reasonable solutions which ensured labour compliance in the kiwifruit industry - and new digital platforms could be one aspect of this.

Where labour was supplied by a contracting company the grower was generally charged a contract rate. For harvest, they were charged a rate per bin and for pruning, they were charged a rate per hectare so growers were unlikely to know the details of the workers involved, she said.

''The grower is paying a set fee for the service provided,'' she said.

''For this reason, the kiwifruit industry is progressively moving towards ensuring that all labour contractors are registered and audited by Zespri for compliance with the industry quality system which includes requirements around worker welfare and meeting all legal obligations.''

Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller said any innovation that increased transparency around the roles of orchard owner, contractor and those that work for contractors was ''a good thing''.

''Duplicity and poor treatment lurk in the shadows and lurk where there is a lack of transparency of everybody's behaviour and activity. So anything that can assist in creating transparency for all parties so people are constantly aware of the obligations of each and can be assured of good performance is good.''