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The workplace regulator has secured nearly $50,000 in penalties against a Queensland labour hire business and sweet potato farm, and its sole director, for unlawfully docking pay from migrant employees, including for breaching its alcohol policy.
Recently, the Federal Circuit and Family Court imposed a $43,000 penalty against McCrystal Agricultural Services, which operates a farm west of Bundaberg at South Kolan, Queensland. The court also imposed a $5,500 penalty against the company’s sole director, Russell McCrystal.
The penalties were imposed against the McCrystal company for breaches of the Fair Work Act that occurred in 2021 and 2022, including fining workers under the company’s alcohol policy, and unlawfully deducting overtime overpayments and health insurance premium payments from the workers’ pay.
Mr McCrystal was penalised for his involvement in the alcohol policy deductions contravention alone.
Between January and March 2022, the Fair Work Ombudsman noted in a statement, 29 employees faced fines under the company’s alcohol policy, totalling $14,500, which mostly impacted employees who were living in accommodation on the farm.
The company also illegally deducted $2.50 more per week than the cost of the health insurance premiums obtained for the employees (a visa requirement), the regulator went on, resulting in deductions, between November 2021 and March 2022, of $47.50 each for 27 of the company’s full-time employees, totalling $1,282.50.
Furthermore, the FWO found that after overpaying 28 casuals for overtime in error in August 2021, the company then deducted, without the employees’ approval, $2,548.60 from the employees’ wages to recover the overpayments in the following pay period.
In total, the regulator outlined, McCrystal Agricultural Services unlawfully deducted $18,331 from 66 employees who were covered by the Horticulture Award 2020, for work performed between August 2021 and March 2022.
The company rectified the underpayments, the regulator noted, after the underpayments were identified by the FWO. The company also proactively amended its alcohol policy to remove the fines.
The deductions breached section 324 of the Fair Work Act as they were not principally for the benefit of the employees and were not otherwise lawfully authorised, the regulator said, adding that the overtime overpayment deductions were not authorised in writing.
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth (pictured) said the litigation underscored the importance that FWO places on the rights of visa holders.
“The visa holder workers underpaid in this case were highly reliant on their employer. Acting to protect visa holder workers and ensuring compliance with workplace laws across the agriculture sector are priorities for the Fair Work Ombudsman,” she said.
“That focus includes ensuring any deductions from the wages of vulnerable visa holder workers are lawful and appropriate. Where they are not, we will hold employers to account, and significant penalties may follow.
“Deductions are lawful only in a limited range of situations, and employers making them must understand those laws. We have a range of information to help employers get it right.
“Any employees with concerns about their pay or entitlements, or any employers seeking information, should contact the Fair Work Ombudsman for free advice and assistance.”
McCrystal Agricultural Services is an approved employer under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme, the workplace regulator said, noting it proactively investigated the business because of its status as an approved employer.
The farm workers, who were from Vanuatu, performed tasks including but not limited to cutting and sorting sweet potato vine into bundles, planting and packing sweet potatoes, and general farm hand tasks.
Jerome Doraisamy is the managing editor of Momentum Media’s professional services suite, encompassing Lawyers Weekly, HR Leader, Accountants Daily, and Accounting Times. He has worked as a journalist and podcast host at Momentum Media since February 2018. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.
