Sue Zheng was happy to land her first job in Toronto at a manicure salon. But there was a catch: she had to pay a $400 deposit to work there, and receive only $25 a day for 10 hours of work, seven days a week.

She took the job anyway.

“I don’t know any English and had no idea what my rights were,” she explained in Mandarin during an interview Thursday. “Workers don’t have a lot of rights where I came from.”

Zheng, 40, who arrived in Toronto from Fuzhou, China in 2006, said she was desperate to find work last year after raising two young children. “You just accept what you are given.”

Hers is one of numerous stories of abuse and exploitation of immigrant workers uncovered in a survey by the Chinese Interagency Network of Greater Toronto, an umbrella group of 33 social and health service agencies serving the Chinese community.

The survey found fewer than one in five know what the maximum hours of work are in Ontario. Of the 119 people interviewed, 66 per cent were unaware of overtime and holiday pay. And four out of 10 people did not know the current minimum wage or that they were protected by labour laws even if they didn’t have a written employment contract.

Though not statistically representative, the results are not surprising and in fact are reflective of other immigrant communities, said Daniel Yau of the Metro Toronto Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic.

“The problem is newcomers are not familiar with their rights in Canada. They also face the language barrier and don’t know the social infrastructure and supports available to them,” he said.

Zheng said she finally quit the salon job after two months due to exhaustion. She had no idea about her labour rights until she was asked to participate in the July street survey in Chinatown. She has since been put in touch with a legal clinic to try and get back her $400 deposit.

Beixi Liu of the Workers’ Action Centre in Toronto said Ontario’s proposed legislation, Bill 68, which would mandate workers to first confront their employer with their concerns before filing a complaint with the Ministry of Labour, will only make matters worse.

“Requiring workers to go back to their employers is unreasonable, very intimidating to workers,” Liu said.

More than 500 individuals were approached for the survey, but an overwhelming majority declined to comment for fear they would be seen by their employer and risk losing their job.

“Many of the workers have worked in those kinds of conditions for years and they just don’t care about their rights. They just do whatever their bosses order them to do and accept what they pay them. They never challenge,” said a disheartened Wei Sun, one of eight volunteers who conducted the survey.

“It’s shocking in Canada that these people are working 70 hours a week, with an average hourly wage of $4.”

Andy Mark of Toronto’s Chinese Canadian National Council said many skilled immigrants put up with poor working conditions because their foreign credentials are not recognized.

“It is difficult to find jobs in the mainstream job market. They want to keep their jobs. It’s simply about survival,” Mark said.

Hui-min Li said he worked in a Chinese-run Toronto automobile parts factory for eight years before the company abruptly laid off its workers and moved to Mexico in late 2008. The Shanghai immigrant was owed $8,000 in severance pay.

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“It was not unusual for us to work 70 hours a week. We worked from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. and the boss wouldn’t let you go until you finished the work,” said Li, who filed a complaint and won his case with the Ontario Labour Relations Board this year.

“Most people don’t have knowledge of their rights. Even if they do, they don’t dare to fight for their rights because they are not the type to rock the boat.”

The survey calls for stronger workplace audits and outreach to educate newcomers about their rights, including incorporating the topic in newcomer English classes.

Workers' rights in Ontario

Minimum hourly wage: $10.25

Maximum work hours per week: 48 hours, without written consent

Eligibility for overtime pay: more than 44 hours

Overtime pay rate: 1.5 times base pay

Yearly paid holidays: two weeks

Percentage of vacation pay: 4 per cent of annual salary