Australian employers have been warned they face a two-year jail sentence if migrant employees are exploited beneath a recent authorities crackdown.
Reforms to broaden protections for a number of the most weak within the workforce will likely be launched to federal parliament inside weeks.
The proposed modifications would make it a legal offence to coerce somebody into breaching their visa situations and lengthen the allowable time between employer sponsors to 180 days.
They would additionally cease employers who’ve beforehand exploited employees from hiring folks on short-term visas beneath new “prohibition notices”.
Last week, the Australian Border Force fined Perth-based bubble tea firm Utopia $13,320 for underpaying sponsored employees. It additionally banned the corporate from sponsoring employees for 2 years.
But beneath present laws, the corporate is free to proceed hiring different employees who maintain short-term visas, corresponding to worldwide college students and backpackers.
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles mentioned he would work with the Fair Work Ombudsman to ascertain finest follow on how one can shut that loophole.
“There will also be triggers for deliberate and repeated cases of noncompliance by employers,” he mentioned in a speech at Victorian Trades Hall.
“In industries where exploitation is particularly widespread – accommodation, food services, cleaning and construction – this is a necessary step to show we can tackle exploitation where it is most prevalent.
“At its heart, immigration is about nation-building, but we cannot build our nation on the back of those being exploited. Exploitation is a sign of weakness, a smallness of character.”
One in six migrants are paid lower than the nationwide minimal wage, a current evaluation by the Grattan Institute confirmed.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions president Michele O’Neil mentioned migrant exploitation was a “national shame”.
But she conceded “more needs to be done” to make sure migrant employees have been in a position to implement their “workplace rights without jeopardising their ability to stay in the country”.
Democracy in Colour nationwide director Neha Madhok agreed.
“Most migrants who find themselves in discriminatory or exploitative conditions say nothing because they fear risking their visa status and employability,” they mentioned.
The reforms would additionally embrace repealing a piece of the Migration Act that the federal government mentioned “undermines” folks from reporting exploitative behaviour.
The authorities mentioned it will proceed to seek the advice of with business and unions on protections for potential whistleblowers and strengthen a “firewall” between the Fair Work Ombudsman and the Home Affairs division.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
