within the community. On 2 October, WorkSafe instructed Gloriavale's leadership to improve their work practices but found no evidence to suggest that the religious community was not managing the risk of workplace fatigue. WorkSafe had conducted a workplace assessment during which a team of four inspectors assessed Gloriavale, four subsidiary companies, and 13 workers. On 10 August 2021, 1 News reported that several former Gloriavale members had alleged that they had been forced to sign a document waiving their right to legal advice when joining the community. The Labour Inspectorate also investigated a so-called partnership agreement as part of its inquiry into long working conditions. May 2022 Employment Court ruling On 21 February 2022, three former Gloriavale residents – Hosea Courage, Daniel Pilgrim and Levi Courage – challenged two earlier Labour Inspectorate inquiries in both 2017 and 2020, which found that they were volunteers and thus not entitled to pay or employment rights. Consequently, the Labour Inspectorate had declined to investigate the labour conditions, including alleged long working hours, at Gloriavale. The plaintiffs want the Employment Court to determine their employment status while they lived at Gloriavale and to determine whether they were exploited as workers. Courage alleged that Gloriavale residents were forced to work and beaten and starved as punishment for refusing to work or not working fast enough. Courage also alleged that he was beaten by his parents and authority figures. On 10 May 2022, the Employment Court ruled in favour of Courage, Pilgrim and Courage's legal challenge, accepting that they had been employees at Gloriavale since the age of six. The Court found that the trio had been forced to perform "strenuous, difficult and sometimes dangerous" work when they were legally required to attend school. This landmark decision has the potential to encourage other former Gloriavale residents to pursue legal action against the religious community. In response to the Employment Court ruling, WorkSafe New Zealand confirmed that it would send inspectors to investigate conditions at Gloriavale. In addition, the Charities Commission commenced an investigation into Gloriavale's trust over allegations of unpaid child labour, beatings, and the withholding of food. If these allegations are proven, Glorivale would lose its charitable status, costing it its donee status and tax benefits. Following the Employment Court's ruling in May 2022, Silver Fern Farms announced on 24 May that it would no longer be supplying offal to Gloriavale's trading company Value Proteins.