Singh arrived in Canada on a visitor visa in 2018 and got in touch with Sarvpreet Boyal, the sole director of the company, through his cousin. The company had recently acquired a Labour Market Impact Assessment, allowing it to hire temporary foreign workers. Singh was offered a mechanic position, signed a contract, and obtained a work permit at the border on his return from India before starting work.

He claimed he had to pay Boyal 25,000 Canadian dollars for the job—a clear violation of the British Columbia Employment Standards Act, which prohibits employers from charging fees for employment. CBC News reports that 10,000 Canadian dollars of this amount was paid in cash, while the remainder was issued via cheques from Singh’s cousin to a friend of Boyal.

In a 70-page decision, Shannon Corregan, delegate of the director of Employment Standards, found significant issues with the employer’s testimony and documentation. She described the conduct of Boyal and his counsel as “obstructive” and “inconsistent,” noting that Boyal’s statements frequently contradicted the company’s own records. “Where his testimony conflicts with Mr. Singh’s, I prefer Mr. Singh’s testimony,” Corregan wrote.

As highlighted by CBC News, the tribunal also reviewed a handwritten logbook presented by Boyal as proof of Singh’s working hours. A forensic document expert hired by Singh’s lawyer, Jonathon Braun, from the Migrant Workers Centre, determined the entries had been falsified, noting that the signatures were not authentic and all entries appeared to have been made by a single person.

Despite acknowledging Singh’s claim of paying 25,000 Canadian dollars to secure the job, the tribunal could award him only 15,000 dollars, as the initial cash payment of 10,000 dollars fell outside the applicable recovery period.

In total, Singh was awarded 115,574.69 Canadian dollars, broken down as follows:

• Regular wages: $24,032.13

• Overtime pay: $44,256.24

• Statutory holiday pay: $2,505.76

• Vacation pay: $4,585.38

• Compensation for length of service: $2,300.42

• Reimbursement for job procurement fee: $15,000

• Interest accrued: $22,894.76

In addition to the award, the company was fined 4,000 Canadian dollars for eight separate breaches of the Employment Standards Act.

Initially, Singh’s complaints were addressed in 2023, when the tribunal ordered the company to pay him just over 3,000 Canadian dollars in unpaid wages. However, as CBC News reports, Singh successfully appealed that decision in 2024, prompting a new investigation that led to the significantly higher compensation.