Australia’s Fair Work Ombudsman has launched legal action against a labour-hire company that operated on farms in Far North Queensland, alleging it underpaid visa holders almost AUD 50,000 (USD 31,950).

NQ Powertrain Pty Ltd is facing the court. The Fair Work Ombudsman investigated the company after receiving reports of potential non-compliance from the Queensland Labour Hire Licensing Compliance Unit and the Commonwealth Government departments administering the Pacific Labour Scheme (PLS) and Seasonal Worker Programme (SWP).

It is alleged that NQ Powertrain had underpaid 87 workers it employed under the PLS and SWP a total of AUD 49,933 (USD 31,907) between December 2018 and May 2020.

More than AUD 42,000 (USD 26,838) of the alleged underpayment relates to deductions from the workers’ wages for accommodation costs. It is alleged the deductions were unlawful because they were in excess of the actual cost of the accommodation.

It is also alleged NQ Powertrain made deductions from each worker’s wages for accommodation at either a boarding house in Mareeba or a farmhouse in Tolga. The Fair Work Ombudsman alleges more than a dozen instances of NQ Powertrain deducting, in total, in excess of AUD 1,000 (USD 639) more from a worker’s wages than was required to cover their accommodation costs.

NQ Powertrain allegedly also made unlawful deductions from workers’ wages for transport costs, and underpaid their Sunday overtime rates, time-off-in-lieu entitlements and minimum-engagement pay, under the Horticulture Award 2010.

Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said taking action to improve compliance in the agriculture sector and protect vulnerable workers were top priorities for the Ombudsman.

“This sector engages many vulnerable workers, such as visa holders, who may be unaware of their rights or unwilling to speak up. Employers who fail to deliver all their employees’ entitlements – including due to unlawful deductions – will be found out and risk facing penalties,” Parker said.

The workers were from countries including Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands. They picked, sorted and packed fruit and vegetables and performed general labouring and housekeeping tasks on the farms.

It is alleged the workers were employed by NQ Powertrain for periods of between one month to about 16 months, and that the company supplied them on an on-hire basis to farms at locations near Cairns, including Innisfail, Tolga, Walkamin, Mareeba, Upper Daradgee and Mourilyan.

Alleged individual underpayments ranged from AUD 17 to AUD 2,041 (USD 10.86 to 1,304). NQ Powertrain has rectified the alleged underpayments in full.

The Fair Work Ombudsman is seeking penalties against NQ Powertrain Pty Ltd for alleged contraventions of the Fair Work Act. The company faces penalties of up to AUD 63,000 (USD 40,285) per contravention.