Entrepreneurs, a man and a woman in their 40s, misled the berry pickers about receiving the minimum wage according to Swedish collective agreements and working eight hours a day, five days a week.
Instead, they had to work long days without leave and were paid per kilo picked. This resulted in them receiving between 18 and 29 percent of the contractual wage after two months.
"According to the Court of Appeal, the two berry entrepreneurs had no intention of paying the berry pickers' correct wages, overtime compensation, or compensation for inconvenient working hours. It is clear that the purpose was to benefit their own business economically at the expense of the berry pickers," writes the Court of Appeal for Upper Norrland in a press release.
The nine Thais testified during the district court hearing about simple living conditions, 15-hour workdays, and lack of leave. They told of not getting enough food and being forced to eat mushrooms they found in the forest and offal from an elk left behind by a hunter.
During the weighing of berries, the female entrepreneur allegedly complained that they were not picking enough and threatened to send them home if anyone objected.
