Ombudsman shows poor record on fruit-pickers’ wages

The figures show the majority of requests for assistance from 417 working holiday visa-holders come from fruit and vegetable pickers and packers working in Queensland and New South Wales.

Backpackers on the 417 working holiday visa accounted for 136,892 of the total 649,494 visa-holders with work rights as at June 30 last year.

Of those 417 visa-holders who contacted the Fair Work Ombudsman requesting assistance, almost 20 per cent were working as fruit and vegetable pickers, almost 13pc as food and beverage attendants and almost 8pc cent as kitchen hands.

Female 417 working holiday visa-holders contacting the agency were most likely working as fruit and vegetable pickers/packers or waitressing.

Male backpackers similarly were most likely working as fruit pickers/packers, chefs/cooks or kitchen hands.

Female visa-holders are also more likely than males to seek help with wage disputes and most are aged in their 20s.

This year will see the completion of the Fair Work Ombudsman's three-year Harvest Trail Campaign which investigated reports of poor treatment working holiday makers and unscrupulous behaviour in dealing with workers.

The campaign was activated in response to ongoing requests for assistance from employees in the horticulture sector, persistent underpayments and confusion among growers and labour-hire contractors about their workplace obligations.

A public report will be released once the campaign has finished however the Fair Work Ombudsman could not confirm a finalisation date.

Fair Work Ombudsman team leader for Toowoomba and Rockhampton in the regional services operations group Jenny Crook addressed a Horticulture Workers Interagency Group (HWIG) forum held in Bundaberg last month

Ms Crook detailed how the campaign has been carried out, including unannounced farm inspections.

"Wages were an area where costs could be reduced and it was an area rife for exploitation," she said.

"Just about every farm we visited had a breach of some form. We went back in the second year and some had complied, others hadn't."

"We find there are multiple layers of subcontracting."

The Fair Work Ombudsman has developed resources to help growers and contractors, including an extensive website. 

Fair Work Ombudsman spokesperson Natalie James said the profile of the typical underpaid overseas worker had emerged from an analysis of requests for assistance from overseas workers received throughout 2015.

Ms James said more than $2.2 million in underpaid wages and entitlements was recovered for 513 visa-holders from disputes completed by the Agency last calendar year – an average of $4317 each.

The Fair Work Ombudsman received a total 1916 requests for assistance from visa-holders in 2015, or 12.6pc of the total number lodged by all workers.

Almost $1 million of all money recovered for overseas workers last year was for 250 employees on 417 working holiday visas.

The figures also showed almost three quarters of all visa-holders who contacted the Fair Work Ombudsman were aged under 30.

The majority were between 26 and 30 and females accounted for over 40pc of that group.

The most common complaints from visa-holders were that they had either been underpaid or not paid at all for work they had performed.

The agency placed 24 matters before the Courts alleging underpayment of visa-holders and required 15 employers to sign Enforceable Undertakings aimed at addressing non-compliance and encouraging behavioural change.

In addition, Fair Work inspectors issued 157 formal letters of caution to employers, 145 infringement notices (on-the-spot fines) and 39 compliance notices.

“While many employers want to do the right thing, there are some who seek to gain a competitive advantage by exploiting vulnerable workers, such as visa-holders,” Ms James said.