The Fair Work Ombudsman has been making surprise inspections of farms and eateries on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast to verify if the workers are being paid correctly,
Fair Work Inspectors are inspecting about 35 businesses in the region targeting growers, labour-hire companies and food outlets to assess compliance with workplace laws. They will also talk to the business owners, labour-hire operators, managers, and employees onsite, and request records.
The inspections are being conducted after receiving reports of potential non-compliance in the region, such as alleged non-payment for time worked, unlawfully low flat rates, below-Award rates to visa holders, unpaid casual, weekend and public holiday loadings and leave entitlements, unauthorised deductions and payslip breaches.
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said protecting vulnerable workers and boosting compliance in the agriculture and fast food, restaurant and café sectors were priorities for the regulator.
“We will take enforcement action where appropriate,” Booth said. “We also act to ensure employers understand their legal responsibilities, including record-keeping and the minimum wage guarantee for pieceworkers in horticulture.
“We know the agriculture and fast food, restaurant and café sectors employ many young workers and visa holders who can be vulnerable to exploitation, as they are often unaware of their workplace rights and unwilling to speak up,” Both added. “Migrant workers may also have limited English skills.”
Inspectors are on alert for low rates of pay that breach the relevant Awards (where applicable) and industrial instruments, including with regard to piece rates in the Horticulture Award; unauthorised deductions; unpaid penalty rates; record-keeping and payslip breaches; and contraventions of the Fair Work Act’s National Employment Standards including failure to provide the Casual Employment Information Statements and Fair Work Information Statement.
The horticulture inspections are part of the FWO’s national agriculture strategy. Since December 2021, it has looked into more than 350 businesses in 15 ‘hot spot’ regions where there are identified high risks of non-compliance. Industry sectors being investigated include viticulture, horticulture, meat processing and agriculture.
Meanwhile, the fast food, restaurant and café audits are part of another program that has recently recovered more than $680,000 in unpaid wages for workers in Melbourne and has previously targeted eateries in areas such as Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Hobart, Darwin, the Gold Coast and Perth.
