Paid for 8 out of 41 working weeks: Celery producers penalised $167k for migrant exploitation

The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) has secured $166,860 in court-ordered penalties against a large celery producer for underpaying vulnerable migrant employees of more than $91,000.

A&G Lamattina and Sons was issued penalties in the Federal Circuit and Family Court. The large celery producers farm is at Boneo on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.

The company breached the Fair Work Act after it underpaid employees and failed to pay them in full and on a monthly basis between February 2020 and February 2021. Lamattina failed to pay minimum wages, casual loading, overtime, and public holiday rates owed under the Horticulture Awards 2010 and 2020.

The FWO investigated the company after receiving requests for assistance from a total of three farmhands, each holding visas, who had not been paid any wages during extended periods of employment.

The workers raised concerns with their employer about their pay, yet it fell on deaf ears. One of the workers, in particular, was only paid for 10 out of 52 weeks of work. Another worker was only paid six out of 36 weeks, with the third worker getting only eight out of 41 weeks worked.

The three employees were underpaid $91,907 between them in the course of a year, with one of them on their own being underpaid $37,000 and the other two more than $27,000 each.

The farmhands are from non-English speaking backgrounds, speaking Indonesian and Malay. They had bridging visas during their duration at Lamattina, where they performed tasks such as planting, picking, and cutting celery on a casual basis.

Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth condemned the breaches, which deprived the workers of their hard-earned wages.

“The conduct by the employer in this case was appalling, and I believe supermarket shoppers would be dismayed to know their Lamattina celery was grown by workers deprived of such large sums of their hard-earned wages,” said Booth.

“We don’t tolerate the exploitation of migrant workers, who have the same rights in Australia as any other workers. Protecting their workplace rights is an ongoing priority for the Fair Work Ombudsman.

“Boosting compliance in the horticulture and agriculture sectors is also a priority.”

Judge Karl Blake characterised Lamattina’s conduct as “egregious”, with the court finding that its actions in underpaying its workers were definitely deliberate.

“It is difficult to think of a contravention of an award that is more serious than a complete failure to pay employees their wages. That is what occurred in this case. The [company]’s conduct was clearly deliberate and intentional,” said Blake J.