When Muhammad Umar Naseem came to Canada from Pakistan in 2008, he believed his adopted country was founded on principles of fairness and equity.
His plan was simple: work hard here, get a university engineering degree and live out a dream unattainable back home.
“My dream was like, one day, I am going to be designing cars, and I am going to settle down in Canada and just live a happy life as everybody seems to live.”
He set about the task with hard work, earning a Masters degree in automotive engineering from the University of Windsor, with top grades.
But after graduation, the dream took a turn.
Unable to get a job in his field, he ended up working in a Toronto gas station, often more than 100 hours a week, all without being paid for thousands of hours of overtime.
During his employment with Khan between 2009 and 2015, Naseem worked an average of 105 hours a week as a cashier and later as a manager. That’s 11,570 hours of overtime pay he never received, totalling nearly $355,000.00
Khan refused repeated requests for an interview. When reached by phone, he offered only this response to Naseem’s allegations: “I’m not saying it’s true or no, but I’m saying … people can say anything, right?”
Unlike most labour cases that weigh the word of an employer against that of an employee, Whitten said Naseem has documentary evidence supporting his allegations — time sheets and emails reviewed by the Star and Global 16x9 that show, on many occasions, 16-hour days and 100-hour weeks.
Six of Naseem’s former colleagues at Petro-Canada, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Naseem did work extensive overtime hours at the gas station. They also said it was understood that employees were not paid overtime.
Naseem says he didn’t realize for years that he was legally entitled to overtime pay, and claims Khan threatened to have him fired and deported when he finally complained — a claim Khan denies in his statement of defence.
“We were kind of like feeling we are slaves and he is the king,” says Naseem. “But what I realized is they are businessmen, they don’t have heart. They just care about money.”
Once Naseem took legal action, things got even more difficult.
In November of last year, a business associate of Khan contacted Naseem, along with his father in Pakistan, with warnings about Naseem’s safety, the statement of claim alleges.
The man “threatened Naseem that Petro-Canada would cause him ‘harm’” and “cryptically inquired what would happen if Naseem were to be found dead in his home.”
In an interview, Naseem says the warnings — to him and his father — left him shaken.
“That is the point I got scared,” he said. “Whenever I go outside . . . I am scared. My wife, she is at home and every time she calls me, ‘Where are you, tell me where.’”
Petro-Canada is owned by Calgary-based Suncor Energy. In an email, Suncor told the Star and 16x9 that its franchisees are “contractually obligated” to follow labour laws, but added that its franchisees are independent business owners, and that matters related to labour standards are between the ministry and franchisees.
Currently, only 40 proactive enforcement officers are charged with monitoring the province’s nearly 450,000 employers. Last year, they conducted 2,477 inspections, ministry data shows. At that rate, it would take those 40 inspectors 181 years to inspect every employer in the province.
Even when the province does take action, the penalties can lack teeth.
One of Khan’s Petro Canada stations was found guilty of violating provincial law covering statutory holiday pay in 2013.
The penalty: a $360 fine. That same day, Naseem’s time sheet shows he worked 16 hours.
“I was expecting … in Canada nobody could do that kind of thing,” says Naseem.
more
Gas station worker’s suit claims 11,570 hours of unpaid overtime | Toronto Star
His plan was simple: work hard here, get a university engineering degree and live out a dream unattainable back home.
“My dream was like, one day, I am going to be designing cars, and I am going to settle down in Canada and just live a happy life as everybody seems to live.”
He set about the task with hard work, earning a Masters degree in automotive engineering from the University of Windsor, with top grades.
But after graduation, the dream took a turn.
Unable to get a job in his field, he ended up working in a Toronto gas station, often more than 100 hours a week, all without being paid for thousands of hours of overtime.
During his employment with Khan between 2009 and 2015, Naseem worked an average of 105 hours a week as a cashier and later as a manager. That’s 11,570 hours of overtime pay he never received, totalling nearly $355,000.00
Khan refused repeated requests for an interview. When reached by phone, he offered only this response to Naseem’s allegations: “I’m not saying it’s true or no, but I’m saying … people can say anything, right?”
Unlike most labour cases that weigh the word of an employer against that of an employee, Whitten said Naseem has documentary evidence supporting his allegations — time sheets and emails reviewed by the Star and Global 16x9 that show, on many occasions, 16-hour days and 100-hour weeks.
Six of Naseem’s former colleagues at Petro-Canada, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Naseem did work extensive overtime hours at the gas station. They also said it was understood that employees were not paid overtime.
Naseem says he didn’t realize for years that he was legally entitled to overtime pay, and claims Khan threatened to have him fired and deported when he finally complained — a claim Khan denies in his statement of defence.
“We were kind of like feeling we are slaves and he is the king,” says Naseem. “But what I realized is they are businessmen, they don’t have heart. They just care about money.”
Once Naseem took legal action, things got even more difficult.
In November of last year, a business associate of Khan contacted Naseem, along with his father in Pakistan, with warnings about Naseem’s safety, the statement of claim alleges.
The man “threatened Naseem that Petro-Canada would cause him ‘harm’” and “cryptically inquired what would happen if Naseem were to be found dead in his home.”
In an interview, Naseem says the warnings — to him and his father — left him shaken.
“That is the point I got scared,” he said. “Whenever I go outside . . . I am scared. My wife, she is at home and every time she calls me, ‘Where are you, tell me where.’”
Petro-Canada is owned by Calgary-based Suncor Energy. In an email, Suncor told the Star and 16x9 that its franchisees are “contractually obligated” to follow labour laws, but added that its franchisees are independent business owners, and that matters related to labour standards are between the ministry and franchisees.
Currently, only 40 proactive enforcement officers are charged with monitoring the province’s nearly 450,000 employers. Last year, they conducted 2,477 inspections, ministry data shows. At that rate, it would take those 40 inspectors 181 years to inspect every employer in the province.
Even when the province does take action, the penalties can lack teeth.
One of Khan’s Petro Canada stations was found guilty of violating provincial law covering statutory holiday pay in 2013.
The penalty: a $360 fine. That same day, Naseem’s time sheet shows he worked 16 hours.
“I was expecting … in Canada nobody could do that kind of thing,” says Naseem.
more
Gas station worker’s suit claims 11,570 hours of unpaid overtime | Toronto Star
