Garick and Ramesh Ramsook are still waiting on more than $178,000 in stolen wages and damages owed to them by a Canadian construction company where they were hired as temporary foreign workers — more than two months after the Ontario Labour Relations Board ordered the company to pay.

Recovering unpaid wages following successful wage theft claims is a central pillar of Ontario’s employment standards system, intended to ensure workers receive the money they are legally owed. But advocates say workers are increasingly unable to collect successful claims, with migrant workers like the Ramsook brothers facing even greater barriers due to their precarious immigration status.

Canada accepts “people out of their country to go there to work, and for what?” Ramesh said.

The Ontario Labour Relations Board decision, issued May 1, is the latest development in a years-long wage theft case involving the brothers from Jamaica, who successfully filed claims through the provincial Ministry of Labour in 2024 after working for months without pay at Ottawa-based Polat Construction.

The OLRB’s latest ruling reviewed and increased compensation awarded to the brothers, finding they had been unlawfully fired for demanding their wages, violating anti-reprisal protections under provincial labour law.

Taking into account their status as migrant workers on closed work permits — which ties their immigration status to Polat Construction, making it illegal to work for another employer until the end of their two-year contract — the board concluded the brothers should also be compensated for the income they lost after being dismissed from their jobs, which they could not easily replace, in addition to damages for emotional pain and suffering.

Polat Construction was ordered to pay the brothers a combined $178,000 by May 31, but they say they have yet to receive their wages.

The company and its owner did not respond to several emails and phone calls from the Star requesting comment on its treatment of workers.

According to Polat’s website, the company has previously worked on projects for the federal, provincial and municipal governments including embassy renovations, ceiling tile replacements for Ottawa’s LRT stations and a “full renovation of assets for the National Capital Commission.”

An opportunity to send money home

Garick and Ramesh came to Canada in July 2023, hired by the company through the temporary foreign worker program on two-year contracts and closed work permits, to build cabinets for residential and commercial renovation projects in Ottawa.

They thought it was an opportunity for good work and to make money to support their families.

“But it didn’t work out like that,” Garick said.

Orders to pay issued by the ministry in 2024 and seen by the Star show employment standards officers concluded the company owed the two men roughly $26,000 each in unpaid wages. Time sheets, wage records and bank statements submitted as evidence showed that, over nearly six months of work, Garick and Ramesh were paid for just six weeks.

According to ministry findings, the brothers repeatedly asked their employer about their missing wages. An audio recording reviewed by officers showed the employer said he did not have the money to pay the workers and warned that he could cancel their work permits and lay them off.

Shortly afterward, Garick and Ramesh were terminated in December 2023.

The ordeal left the brothers homeless and struggling to find new work to support their loved ones and children in Jamaica.

“It was devastating,” Garick said.

The ministry’s investigation found that the employer provided “conflicting information” on the dismissals, initially attributing them to an “industry downturn,” later claiming the workers had failed to fulfil their duties and harmed the company’s interests.

The report concluded that the company engaged in a reprisal against the workers after they asked for their wages.

Increasing wage theft

Orders to pay are a key part of enforcement but have long been a sore point for advocates because Labour Ministry data has previously shown these orders are often unsuccessful.

Every year, workers in Ontario file thousands of successful claims against employers who owe millions in unpaid wages and entitlements. But even when the ministry orders employers to pay, the overwhelming majority do not comply.

Enforcement gaps and defunct businesses often leave awards unfulfilled, according to legal experts, who say things aren’t getting any better.

At the same time, immigration consultants have noted that wage theft cases particularly among vulnerable migrant workers are on the rise amid market turmoil. These violations frequently go unpunished.

In the past decade, nearly $200 million in unpaid wages have been formally assessed as owed to workers, according to government data. When employers fail to comply with a Ministry of Labour order to pay within 30 days, the case is referred to Ontario’s Ministry of Finance, which was only able to recover less than a quarter of the $102.4 million sent for collections between 2013 and 2023, leaving workers still owed $79.9 million in stolen wages.

The ministries of Labour and Finance in an emailed statement said the government has “zero tolerance for wage theft,” and that it is “ramping up enforcement through tougher penalties and enhanced oversight.”

“This includes doubling the maximum fine for individuals convicted under the Employment Standards Act from $50,000 to $100,000 — the highest in the country,” and increasing “administrative penalties for repeat offenders from $1,000 to $5,000 (per employee), sending a clear message that non-compliance will not be tolerated,” said Finance Ministry spokesperson Sarah Chapin.

Still, many workers like Garick and Ramesh wait months or years to get their wages. Many never see a dime.

Migrant workers vulnerable to wage theft

Alek Noel Thompson, another worker from Jamaica who was hired by Polat Construction, is still waiting on more than $60,000 in stolen wages, which the Labour Ministry ordered the company to pay in 2024.

The Polat workers’ wage theft case is far from unique, said Chris Ramsaroop, an activist with Justicia for Migrant Workers.

A large part of the problem is that there has been a sharp drop in Labour Ministry inspections, penalties and prosecutions for wage theft and other violations. Across Ontario, the number of proactive workplace inspections dropped from 2,800 in 2017 to 790 in 2022, a Star investigation found.

“It’s alarming that there’s so many vulnerable workers that are in this position,” Ramsaroop said.

Migrant workers face an additional layer of vulnerability, he said, because once their work permits expire, many leave the country and are unlikely to file claims with the ministry. Even when they do, there’s no enforcement when it comes to collecting what they are owed.

“The laws have been woefully inadequate for the most vulnerable workers,” Ramsaroop said.

For this reason, Garick and Ramesh said they have no plans to return to Canada and would not recommend that their friends seek work here.

“The government should’ve stepped in and done more to help us,” Garick said.  “But it’s like we didn’t exist.”