The Labour Hire Licensing Authority for Victoria reported late last month that it has refused 32 more labour hire licence applications.

Issues have included concerns over:

• Wages and wage deductions, superannuation, piece rate agreements and compliance with modern awards
• Illegal phoenix activity (When a new company is formed in place of a company that has been liquidated, wound up or abandoned to avoid paying its debts.)
• Registration for WorkCover insurance
• Registration for GST and PAYG, providing accurate business statements, cancelled ABNs, deregistered ACNs
• Unfit relevant people, shadow directors and identity issues such as confirming all relevant people (for example company directors)
• Plans, policies and procedures to prevent or minimise the risks of exposure to Covid-19

The Labour Hire Licencing Authority says it has also worked with companies who have submitted incomplete or inaccurate applications to improve their understanding of their workplace obligations. It has issued more than 72 more notices of intention to refuse to applicants as a final step to obtain needed information.

Unlicensed labour hire providers face maximum penalties of up to AUD 145,392 (USD 107,459) for an individual and AUD 581,568 (USD 429,836) for a corporation.