Sunshine Coast horticulture employers have been targeted as part of a three-year campaign by the Fair Work Ombudsman focusing on non-compliance with workplace laws.
Employers in 15 regional hotspots were picked for surprise inspection under the regulator’s horticulture strategy.
Under the completed three-year strategy, inspectors visited 360 farms and orchards and investigated 512 businesses in a rolling campaign coordinated with crop seasons.
The FWO issued $760,405 in fines to employers who had failed to meet their pay slip and record-keeping obligations, with 91 per cent of these 166 infringement notices going to labour hire providers. Only 15 fines were issued to growers that employed workers directly.
Failures in record-keeping and providing workers with non-compliant or no pay slips were the most common breaches by employers across the national campaign.
Under the strategy, the FWO also recovered $384,168 in wages for 464 underpaid workers after issuing 95 compliance notices: 55 to labour hire providers and 40 to growers.
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The FWO’s recently reported findings found employers in the Wide Bay and Moreton Bay regions to be the nation’s most compliant, with only 18 per cent and 8 per cent respectively having not met obligations.
Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley region had the highest rate of overall non-compliance, with 83 per cent of targeted employers found to have failed to meet obligations under the Fair Work Act.
The horticulture sector is a priority for the FWO, given its history of high non-compliance with workplace laws and large proportion of vulnerable workers employed on farms and orchards, particularly young people on working holidays, migrants and visa holders.
In June, the FWO announced it would roll out a fresh campaign of horticulture sector inspections targeting labour hire providers.
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said the strategy had found mixed levels of compliance.
“We found positive signs of real improvement in Queensland regions, but extreme or very high levels of non-compliance in five Victorian and NSW regions,” Ms Booth said.
“Where we found breaches we took action. Our inspectors will return to these five trouble-spot regions with a focus on labour hire providers, who made up 80 per cent of non-compliant employers in these locations.
“The Fair Work Ombudsman is committed to changing employer behaviour to ensure that workers in this sector receive all their legal entitlements – but we know we can’t do it on our own.
“We need the sustained investment of industry partners, including employer groups and unions, to deliver a more compliant horticulture sector.
“This includes maximising awareness and use of our free education resources.”
