Australia’s workplace watchdog the Fair Work Ombudsman has secured an AUD 106,430.63 (USD 70,935.60) court penalty against labour-hire company NQ Powertrain Pty Ltd, after it underpaid dozens of visa holders working on farms in Far North Queensland.

The Federal Circuit and Family Court has imposed the penalty against NQ Powertrain Pty Ltd after it admitted breaching workplace laws by underpaying 87 visa holders a total of AUD 49,933 (USD 33,294.33) between December 2018 and May 2020.

The labour hire company made deductions from the workers’ wages for accommodation and transport costs that exceeded the maximum lawfully allowable and underpaid their entitlements under the country’s Horticulture Award 2010.

NQ Powertrain employed the workers under the then Pacific Labour Scheme (PLS) and Seasonal Worker Programme (SWP) and supplied them on an on-hire basis to farms at locations near Cairns.

The workers were from countries including Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.

The Ombudsman investigated NQ Powertrain after receiving reports of potential non-compliance from the Queensland Labour Hire Licensing Compliance Unit and the Commonwealth Government departments administering the PLS and SWP.

They picked, sorted and packed fruit and vegetables and performed general labouring and housekeeping tasks on farms.

Most of the underpayment amount, more than AUD 42,000 (USD 27,990.90), consisted of NQ Powertrain making unlawful deductions from the workers’ wages for accommodation at either a boarding house in the town of Mareeba or a farmhouse in the town of Tolga.

The deductions were unlawful because they exceeded what NQ Powertrain actually paid for the accommodation.

Inspectors found more than a dozen instances of NQ Powertrain deducting, in total, in excess of AUD 1,000 (USD 666.45) more from a worker’s wages than was required to cover their accommodation costs.

The firm also unlawfully deducted AUD 3,100 (USD 2,070.46) from workers’ wages for airport transport costs, in contravention of the Fair Work Act, and underpaid their Sunday overtime rates, time-off-in-lieu entitlements and minimum-engagement pay, under the Horticulture Award 2010.

Individual underpayments ranged from AUD 17 (USD 11.34) to AUD 2,041 (USD 1,360.90).

NQ Powertrain rectified the underpayments in full after the FWO investigated. The company ceased trading in 2022.

Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said that employers in the agriculture sector, including labour hire companies, that underpay vulnerable workers risk facing significant consequences.

“Making unlawful deductions from workers’ wages and failing to pay the correct minimum entitlements is unacceptable,” Parker said. “Improving compliance in the agriculture sector and protecting vulnerable workers like visa holders, who may be unaware of their rights or unwilling to speak up, continue to be top priorities for the FWO.”