Fruit grower signs EU after $127k of unlawful wage deductions

A Victorian fruit grower has signed an enforceable undertaking with the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO).

R J Cornish and Co is a Goulburn Valley fruit growing company known for the peaches, pears, apples, lemons and oranges. The company has two separate orchards in Cobram and Muckatah in north-east Victoria.

Recently, however, the company has had to enter an enforceable undertaking (EU) with the FWO to improve its workplace compliance after it made unlawful wage deductions of close to $127,000 from 112 employees.

Back in March 2024, Fair Work inspectors visited the company as part of nationwide surprise inspections of both farms and orchards to check workers are receiving the right wages and entitlements.

It was quickly discovered that the company had made unlawful deductions from employees’ wages between July 2017 and June 2024.

R J Cornish and Co admitted that it failed to pay current and former employees in full by wrongly deducting $126,859 from their wages for the hire of power ladders used in fruit picking ($85,953), fuel related to the power ladders ($40,556), and sprinkler damage ($350).

These wage deductions were not permitted by the Fair Work Act as they held no principal benefit for the employees and, therefore, were not lawfully authorised.

The company has made almost all back payments, with $123,249 back paid to 108 current and former employees. The affected employees worked on a casual basis as fruit pickers, with 39 of the underpaid employees being on working holiday visas.

Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said the agriculture sector remains a priority area.

“The agriculture sector is a focus for the FWO, as many vulnerable workers such as visa holders and young people are employed at farms and orchards,” said Booth.

“The FWO has recovered more than $1.5 million in unpaid wages for 755 agriculture sector workers since December 2021.”

Under the EU, R J Cornish must back pay the remaining $3,610 for four employees who haven’t yet been located. Along with this, they will also make a $5,500 contrition payment to the Commonwealth Consolidated Revenue Fund, as well as engage an independent auditor to check that workers are receiving their correct pay and entitlements moving forward.

“In this matter, we welcome the company’s cooperation with our investigation and their commitment to both rectify the deduction amounts in full and put in place a range of measures to ensure current and future hard-working employees are paid everything they are owed,” said Booth.