Acting Fair Work Ombudsman Michael Campbell said the failure to pay by Werribee producers was a serious case of exploitation.
Labour's new fresh food tax is “unfair and unreasonable”, says Anne Webster, assistant to the regional health minister. “Where is there a parallel world where governments ask their farmers to fund the risks posed by international competitors?” she told Sky News Australia. “Labour wants to put this money into the general fund, but there is no indication how it will be spent. “Across my own constituency, 7,000 farmers and farm managers will be affected by this.” This is another levy, another dip into what Labor sees as the piggy bank of farmers across Australia.”
The Federal Court fined Lotus Farm Proprietary Limited $130,806 and $28,987 against one of its directors, Son Thai.
The Fair Work Ombudsman investigated Werribee Farm following a request for assistance from two former employees whose first language was not English, alleging that they were paid illegally low fixed hourly wages while working as pickers and packers at Werribee Farm. did.
Lotus Farm has admitted that it did not meet minimum wage, temporary loading, overtime and holiday penalty rates for employees as set out in the 2010 Horticulture Industry Awards. One employee was paid a low wage of $22,364 and the other $6,167 for a period ending in June 2017. And in September 2020.
Mr. Tai admitted that he was involved in the nonpayment.
The Fair Work Ombudsman said Lotus Farm also provided false or misleading payslips to the organization. Workers were not given pay slips. He made illegal deductions from a worker's salary and failed to create and maintain necessary records.
The ombudsman said Mr Tai was also involved in these violations.
Fair Work Ombudsman Michael Campbell
Michael Campbell, acting Fair Work Ombudsman, said this was a serious case of employer exploitation.
“The exploitation of vulnerable immigrant workers who do not speak English is not something we will tolerate,” Campbell said.
“These significant fines against Lotus Farm and its general manager send a clear message that those who attempt to conceal serious underpayments, including false payslips, will be discovered and suffer significant losses. sending.”
Deputy Chief Justice Patrizia Mercuri characterized the failure to provide payslips to employees and the subsequent submission of false payslips to the Fair Work Ombudsman as “particularly serious”.
“Providing misleading information was clearly a deliberate act and had the potential to derail or prolong the investigation,” she said.
Deputy Chief Justice Merkuri pointed out that in imposing penalties, it is necessary to reflect the “strong disapproval of the court.”
“This is especially true given the nature of the industry and the vulnerability of affected employees.”
The shortfall was remedied in full, and Deputy Chief Judge Merkuri noted that Lotus Farm and Mr. Tai had introduced changes to minimize the risk of recurrence of default.
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