The boss of a Reporoa holiday park who employed bonded labour and was ordered to pay a record $680,350 in penalties says she will not return the workers' money.

Min Wang is one of three people the Employment Court found was cheated out of their life savings and were forced to work without pay for months on end at Reporoa's Golden Springs holiday park.

The three migrant workers described their situation as being "like a nightmare", and a "prison".

Owner Shenshen Guan was ordered by the Employment Court to pay $680,350 in penalties and back wages to employees at the rural holiday park. 

Wang, along with two other workers Sherry (Xueli) Wang and Mr Meng, each paid Y200,000 (NZ$45,000) to live with Guan while their work visas were approved, Guan said. 

"That amount was calculated to two years basic living costs. It's got nothing to do with the visa."

Guan said workers paying security for jobs was commonly practised by Chinese employers in New Zealand.

She denied the $45,000 payment was a bond, claiming it was basic living costs, and "security" for taking on the risk of employing three Chinese citizens.

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"That amount was calculated to two years basic living costs. It's got nothing to do with the visa.

"In China it's not a bond, it is just a payment in advance to secure they will pay me. The law is different in China. Everything they signed was in China, the money they paid was in China."

Guan said she would have paid the three workers' bonds if they had completed work for her, but she remained adamant they were not her employees.

"I was willing [to return the bond] but because the Labour Inspectorate became involved and made things so messy, I'm going to have to calculate how much they owe me."

She said their bonds were in China. 

"I didn't know them and they were coming to work for me for two years if they get a visa. They did not agree to apply for the visa in China, they wanted to come to New Zealand first. I can't do any criminal checks, so I need some security if they burn my house or damage anything."

Guan said she would appeal the judgment and claimed the three migrants had signed employment contracts for their work visas but never actually carried out work as none received their work visa.

She said their bonds were in China. 

But the court found no evidence of this. 

Single mother Min Wang said her parents cashed in their pension to allow their daughter a fresh start in New Zealand.

Labour Inspectorate national manager Stu Lumsden said since January 2018 the department had taken enforcement action against nine businesses for employment breaches that involved premiums being charged.

"The Wages Protection Act makes it illegal for employers to charge an employee a premium fee, or a bond for employment. This includes charging an employee money in exchange for giving them a job or keeping them in a job so they can work under a work visa," Lumsden said.

"It is always illegal, whether the employee pays the fee in a lump sum or regular amount to the employer or the employer deducts the money from the employee's pay or the employer makes the employee pay their own PAYE tax."

Golden Springs, which was listed on the Companies Office as Fusion New Zealand Limited, was ordered to pay $300,000 in penalties, with Guan found personally liable for a further $150,000. 

"It was clear that Ms Guan wished to obtain their services sooner rather than later and the visitor visa option provided a convenient means of getting them to New Zealand and securing an earlier start date for their work," Chief Employment Court Judge Christina Inglis said.

Each of the three workers will receive $100,000, on top of between $69,000 and nearly $92,000 they are to receive in unpaid wages and compensation. New Zealand Fusion and Guan had also been banned from employing staff for 18 months.

While translated text messages presented by the Labour Inspectorate showed Guan asked for daily reports, she said words in Mandarin had double meanings and this was not taken into account.

"You must do the work I ask for, no more excuse and reason. OK? From today, [every one] of you must send me a work report at the end of day before you go to sleep," one Guan's text messages read. 

She also alleged the Labour Inspectorate accused her of employment breaches before carrying out an investigation.