Horticulture employers fined $760,000 for non-compliance

The Fair Work Ombudsman announced fines and new inspections in major farming regions

Horticulture employers fined $760,000 for non-compliance

The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) has issued $760,000 in fines to employers in Australian regions that failed to meet their payslip and record-keeping obligations.

The fines were issued under a three-year campaign that subjected a total of 512 horticulture employers in 15 regional hotspots to surprise inspections.

Under the campaign, a total of 166 Infringement Notices were handed out, with 91% directed to labour hire providers. Only 15 fines were issued to growers that employed workers directly.

The FWO also recovered $384,168 in wages for 464 underpaid workers after issuing 95 Compliance Notices. Among them, 55 were handed to labour hire providers and 40 to growers.

Mixed levels of compliance

Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said the three-year campaign 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. Where we found breaches we took action," Booth said in a statement.

Victoria's Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley region had the highest rate of overall non-compliance, with 83% of targeted employers found to have failed to meet their Fair Work Act obligations.

The other regions with a "very high" non-compliance rating are:

  • Riverina in New South Wales (72%)
  • Sunraysia in Victoria (70%)
  • Shepparton in Victoria (63%)
  • Coffs Harbour and Grafton in NSW (61%)

Failures in record-keeping and providing workers with non-compliant or no payslips were the most common breaches recorded under the strategy.

Horticulture troublespot inspections

The Fair Work Ombudsman said it will commence inspections this month of labour hire providers in the horticulture sector to stamp out non-compliance among them.

The inspections, which will be carried out across the next two years, will start with Riverina businesses in NSW this month, before moving to the other high non-compliance areas.

"Our inspectors will return to these five troublespot regions with a focus on labour hire providers, who made up 80% of non-compliant employers in these locations," Booth said.

"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."