Migrant Workers Underpaid

Workplace audits undertaken, have shown that one in five migrant workers underpaid or are employed in positions they should not be doing due. Businesses have been swooped on, some workers, have been underpaid by tens of thousands of dollars. In some cases workers have been performing jobs that are not in line with their visa type or skill set.

The complaints by mistreated workers have soared over the past 5 years, businesses that are involved in this fraud face high penalties for misleading workers and defrauding the government. The government has been able to recover $4 million in unpaid wages and entitlements and have dealt with over 6000 requests for help not always being of migrant workers being underpaid.

Once such story is of a Melbourne migration agency who have since been fined a grand total of $140,790 for underpaying 5 young, Chinese migrant employees tens of thousands of dollars.The agency offers services to international students seeking Australian visas and study visas, Fair Work Investigator discovered the underpayments, in addition as pay slip breaches, once it investigated complaints lodged by staff.

The penalties, obligatory within the Federal Circuit Court in Melbourne, follow proceeding by the Fair Work investigator. The 5 staff, who worked as clerks at the centre, were underpaid a total amount of $76,186 between 2009 and 2013.

The employees were paid flat hourly rates of $9 to $10 for ‘trial period’ of 2 to four months. After that, their flat hourly rates ranged from $13.74 to $16. Under the Clerks non-public Sector trendy Award 2010, the staff were entitled to be paid a minimum of $16 an hour for all work performed, with higher rates due for overtime and public vacation work. Now aged in their 20’s they are all now current residents of Australia.

If you think you have been unfairly treated in your workplace, please get in touch today email visa@phillipsilver.com.au or phone on (02) 97085954