Labour laws do the job
PEAK horticulture body Growcom supports a crackdown on labour hire licensing.
Growcom has applauded the Queensland Government’s decision to strip a labour hire provider of its licence after it was found to have breached the state’s recently enforced labour hire licensing laws.
RJP Contracting Services Pty Ltd, operating in the Lockyer Valley region, was found to be providing false information on its application regarding its employment of migrant workers.
Its licence was cancelled as a result of a combined investigation led by the Labour Hire Licensing Compliance Unit in consultation with the Fair Work Ombudsman, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services and Australian Border Force.
The company was found to have provided false information about the supply of visa workers on its application and had also breached the Fair Work Act 2009. RJP Contracting Services is no longer allowed to provide labour hire services in Queensland, but it does have 28 days to request a review of the decision.
This means growers who continue to use this company during this time could be fined.
Growcom welcomes the crackdown on non-complaint labour hire companies as a positive step towards improving the treatment of international workers.
The Office of Industrial Relations has assured concerned farmers that RJP Contracting Services has had its licence suspended for some time, which was made clear on the labour hire provider register.
Labour hire users looking to engage the business will now find it is no longer licensed.
According to the Office of Industrial Relations, the Labour Hire Licensing Compliance Unit is currently looking into the legalities of whether it can release the ABN of the company.
In the meantime, Growcom encourages its growers who use a labour hire company to check it is licensed via the Queensland Government’s labour hire website: www.labourhire.qld.gov.au/.
There are individual fines of up to $134,988 for those who use an un-licensed labour hire provider.
As of July 25, 2018, a total of 2889 labour hire provider licence applications have been received by the Queensland Government, with 1912 already fully vetted and approved.