human trafficking claims – IWW ÍSLAND

Hnjótur Guesthouse

The worker came to Iceland from Greenland in the summer to save money for her studies. Between the 18th of May to the 21st of July 2017, she worked at Hnjótur Guesthouse in the Westfjords. Her boss paid for her plane ticket to Iceland.
She claimed that only part of her salary was paid. She claims to have worked from mornings to evenings, 64 days without a free day, sometimes from 7 am till 11 pm, and got only ISK 270.305 in total for that period.
The case was reported by the Westfjords union (Verkalýðsfélags Vestfirðinga) as a possible case of human trafficking, but the police have stopped investigating.
The guesthouse’s owner stated that the worker had no work obligations, that she was a friend visiting. The worker claimed that the owner also told her to say that she was his girlfriend.
The guesthouse’s owner wrote a payslip for the worker, which was prepared the day before she left. The newspaper (Stundin/Heimildin) had the pay slip in hand. It says that she worked 512 hours during the 64 days she was at Hnjótur Guesthouse, or 8 hours a day. The article states that all work after 173.33 hours per month should be paid as overtime, but no overtime is shown on the payslip – at least 165 hours should be paid as such. The declared salary on the note is ISK 866,412, but various unexplained and possibly illegal deductions appear there. The guesthouse’s owner deducted 36.94 percent tax from the worker’s salary, but the worker did not have a social security number – which is a prerequisite for returning tax to the authorities. The article states that it is uncertain whether and how that money went to the authorities.
The worker won a wage case in the Dristrict Court of the Westfjords. The owner of the guest house did not appear in court and has announced that he will never pay her.

Sources published from October 2017 to April 2019:

“I don’t trust Icelanders anymore” – https://heimildin.is/grein/5617

“She won a wage-case in the court but is unsure she will get paid” – heimildin.is/grein/8849

Kristinn Þór Egilsson (kt. 140458-3259) is the owner of the Hnjótur Guesthouse: https://www.skatturinn.is/fyrirtaekjaskra/leit/kennitala/1404583259

HD verk ehf. – Bræðraborgarstígur

Many newspapers have investigated HD Verk ehf., after a fire broke out in one of their houses at Bræðaborgarstígur 1, killing three people. In several articles, some of them published before the fire, Heimildin reported the poor condition of the house and the bad situation of the foreign workers who lived in it.

73 foreign workers were registered as residents of the house at the time of the fire, one of the journalists claims that their employers provided them that place to live. ASÍ called for an investigation and asked for the employers to be held accountable.

At the time of the fire, HD Verk also owned several other houses, among them houses at the following addresses: Dalvegur 24 og 26, Hjallabrekka 1 og Kársnesbraut 96-A. Workers of Menn í vinna were among the workers who lived in these houses, with suspiction of human trafficking, Heimildin reports.

Before the fire, the house at Bræðaborgarstígur 1 had already been in the news. They claim that the poor condition of the house, open to rain, wind and mold, was known to the owners of HD Verk, at the time Heiðar Reynisson and Brynhildur Stefánsdóttir. Heimildin also interviewed a former resident of the house who expressed concerns about the exact development of events that led to the fire and the death of three people. The manager of the properties was Kristján Gíslason.

Next to the house that burned, another house also owned by HD Verk was allegedly used illegally without permit for a guesthouse and was closed down three times by the police.

Sources published from August 2015 to July 2020:

HD Verk ehf. is also known as H2o ehf. and 10 ehf.

h2o ehf. (kt: 620216-0700); Real owner: Kristinn Jón Gíslason; Ceased operations under this kennitala: 15.12.2020 (company registry)

10 ehf. (kt: 520612-0330); Real owner: Kristinn Jón Gíslason (company registry)

Vietnam Restaurant ehf., Vietnam Market ehf., Wok On, Vy-þrif ehf.

The owner of Vietnam Restaurant ehf., Vietnam Market ehf., Wok On and Vy-þrif ehf. was arrested in spring 2024 because of suspected human trafficking, money laundering and suspicion of organized crime. According statements from workers in the articles

They were asked to pay a fee in cash every month to the owner
They had to pay up to 8 million kronas to come to work in Iceland
They were threatened with deportation by the owner in case they were contacting the unions or other organizations for help
They were made to work for long hours and in different places than agreed on
They were brought in on a specialist working visas and were given contracts as cooks, but were made to work in different places
They were asked to work “black” (for cash payment)
Wages were below the collective agreement

Sources published in March 2024:

Vietnam Market ehf. (kt: 590509-0860); Real owner: Davíð Viðarsson (company registry)

Vietnam Restaurant ehf. (kt: 460510-1390); Real owner: Davíð Viðarsson (company registry)

Vietnamese cuisine ehf. (kt: 541016-0900); Real owner: Davíð Viðarsson (company registry)

WOKON ehf. (kt: 480518-1440); Real owner: Davíð Viðarsson (company registry)

Vy-Þrif ehf. (kt: 421107-0410); Real owner: Davíð Viðarsson (company registry)

Icewear

In 2016, RÚV reported on a case of human trafficking:

Icewear bought the services of another company who used forced labor of two immigrant women in his house.
The manager says that they did not know about this and that Icewear is also a victim in that case 🇮🇸, even though the human trafficker had also other workers in its workplace.

In 2019, Heimildin published the story of an employee fired because he pointed out that cameras were used for spying on the workers 🇮🇸:

The boss sent several emails to the store manager with his complaints about what he saw watching over the employees through the camera system.
When the store manager contacted the union representative about his concerns, he was fired on the spot by the boss.
The use of the cameras is not in accordance with the rules of the Data Protection Authority of Iceland, as it is not a security or protection matter.

Sources published from Februar 2016 to March 2019:

Icewear / Drífa ehf. (kt: 480173-0159), real owner: Ágúst Þór Eiríksson (company registry)

Bambus and Flame

In 2022, a series of articles were published in several newspapers including Vísir and Morgunblaðið about foreign workers who were not paid overtime. The following is reported by the union MATVÍS:

Some workers would work 10 to 16 hours a day without vacation and only received the minimum wage and no overtime. They were renting the owners’ rooms and the rent was taken from their salaries directly.
The union MATVÍS noticed the police for wage theft and possible human trafficking 🇮🇸.
The owners said it was a misunderstanding but the union denied 🇮🇸 and calculated that with all the overtime the workers’ salaries should have been twice bigger. The owners paid themselves the rent for the rooms from their salaries without keeping receipts for the accounting.
When the union went public with the story and brought the case to court 🇮🇸, the restaurant owner threatened the union with legal actions.

Sources published August to November 2022:

Bambus: Borg 16 ehf. (kt: 481112-0870), real owners: Bei Wand and Davið Fei Wang (company registry)

Flame: Teppanyaki Iceland ehf. (kt: 440918-0770), real owners: Bei Wand and Davið Fei Wang (company registry)

IWW ÍSLAND – list of shame

Tag: human trafficking claims

Hnjótur Guesthouse

HD verk ehf. – Bræðraborgarstígur

Vietnam Restaurant ehf., Vietnam Market ehf., Wok On, Vy-þrif ehf.

Icewear

Bambus and Flame