Queensland man Ram Kumar and his labour-hire company, Seasonal Farm Services Pty Ltd are facing the Federal Circuit Court for allegedly underpaying overseas workers more than $60,000.
The Fair Work Ombudsman alleges Mr Kumar and his company underpaid 144 employees a total of $60,780 between June, 2014 and June, 2015.
The company supplied the employees to pick and pack fruit and vegetables on a number of farms in Queensland’s Lockyer Valley.
Most of the employees, as young as 19, were overseas workers from Asia, Europe and the UK who were in Australia on 417 working holiday visas at the time.
A number of the employees were working for Seasonal Farm Services to become eligible to stay in Australia for two years on their 417 visas by undertaking 88 days specified work in a designated regional area and in certain industries in their first year.
Fair Work Ombudsman is alleging the employees were generally paid flat rates ranging from $16 to $18.50 an hour instead of $21.09 an hour.
The FWO also alleges that the underpayments persisted for several months after Mr Kumar and his company were put on notice of the need to pay minimum award rates.
The largest alleged individual underpayment is $2820.
Mr Kumar and his company also allegedly contravened record-keeping laws.
Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James says a decision was made to commence litigation because of the seriousness of the alleged contraventions and the failure to rectify the matter.
“Visa-holders can be vulnerable if they are not fully aware of their rights or reluctant to seek help, so we place a high priority on taking action to ensure their rights are protected,” Ms James said.
A hearing is listed for May 5, 2017 in the Federal Circuit Court in Brisbane.
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