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Bigger fines for employers who exploit foreign workers
New measures are being considered by the government to crack down on businesses who exploit foreign workers - in particular by underpayment and unscrupulous conduct, according to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald.
Employment Minister Michaelia Cash is expected today to unveil a high-level ministerial working group that will look into implementing measures to protect vulnerable visa holders. Chaired by Senator Cash, the group will also include Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, Justice Minister Michael Keenan and Assistant Minister Kelly O'Dwyer.
According to the SMH, the new working group would look to build on the efforts of Taskforce Cadena which was established earlier this year to investigate illegal practices in temporary visa programmes, including the activities of labour hire companies and penalise employers exploiting foreign workers.
"Foreign workers are important contributors to the Australian workforce and we want to ensure they continue to view Australia as a great destination...We know that foreign workers are potentially more vulnerable to workplace exploitation and as such we have a responsibility to investigate additional measures to ensure their protection," Senator Cash told the SMH.
According to Senator Cash, the focus of the group will be on employers engaged in systematic underpayment of employees, rather than companies which accidentally do the wrong thing.
Raising the penalties for individuals and employers who do the wrong thing and exploit workers, as set out in legislation, are likely while a code of conduct for the labour hire industry is also a prospect.
At present, individual directors face a maximum penalty of $10,200 for the underpayment of wages under the Fair Work Act, while companies face fines of $51,000 per contravention of the Act.
According to the SMH, the Fair Work Ombudsman has received 6000 requests for assistance in the past three years from visa holders being underpaid, and has recovered in excess of $4 million in outstanding wages.
Comments
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Friday, 16 October 2015We had a case that was referred to the FWO ombudsman involving a Farmer and 417 and 402 Visa holders. Workers on these visas are meant to have previous experience and or qualifications in the industry. The Farmer who the complaint was made against paid their workers at the lowest possible level one of the award rate whi9hc at the time was $16.85/hour for a 38 hour week (152 hours every four weeks). The Farmer did not pay overtime or penalty rates and the workers worked on average 50+ hours a week including weekends, New years eve, Christmas and Public Holidays to which they did not receive any overtime or penalty payments
The workers, who had previous employment experience in the Dairy Industry in Denmark(2years) and held qualifications in food technology and agriculture worked unsupervised and should have been classified at Level 5 of the Pastoral Award,
There is provision in the award to negotiate a flat rate - applying the no disadvantage test' rate which, as an industry standard, was set at around $20.50 an hour for worker at a similar skill set. A 22% difference in pay rate.
The Department of Immigration require an employment contract to be submitted with the visa application however our client was not provided a copy of this agreement.
We referred the client to the AWU which has carriage over the Pastoral Award in Victoria
This matter is still before the FWO and waiting decision.
As a Migration Agent we should be award of the various awards and advise our clients that they should not underpay foreign workers, who sadly are open to exploitation.
Most farmers we have dealt with pay above award rates and treat their workers with respect. Those employers that seek to exploit foreign workers are unfairly competing against those that meet obligations and commitments. -
Friday, 16 October 2015
We had a case that was referred to the FWO ombudsman involving a Farmer and 417 and 402 Visa holders. Workers on these visas are meant to have previous experience and or qualifications in the industry. The Farmer who the complaint was made against paid their workers at the lowest possible level one of the award rate whi9hc at the time was $16.85/hour for a 38 hour week (152 hours every four weeks). The Farmer did not pay overtime or penalty rates and the workers worked on average 50+ hours a week including weekends, New years eve, Christmas and Public Holidays to which they did not receive any overtime or penalty payments
The workers, who had previous employment experience in the Dairy Industry in Denmark(2years) and held qualifications in food technology and agriculture worked unsupervised and should have been classified at Level 5 of the Pastoral Award,
There is provision in the award to negotiate a flat rate - applying the no disadvantage test' rate which, as an industry standard, was set at around $20.50 an hour for worker at a similar skill set. A 22% difference in pay rate.
The Department of Immigration require an employment contract to be submitted with the visa application however our client was not provided a copy of this agreement.
We referred the client to the AWU which has carriage over the Pastoral Award in Victoria
This matter is still before the FWO and waiting decision.
As a Migration Agent we should be aware of the various awards and advise our clients that they should not underpay foreign workers, who sadly are open to exploitation.
Most farmers we have dealt with pay above award rates and treat their workers with respect. Those employers that seek to exploit foreign workers are unfairly competing against those that meet obligations and commitments.
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