Vulnerable migrant workers in Australia employed to sort waste at facilities across Melbourne were underpaid almost AUD 200,000 (USD 128,389) for their work by Polytrade.

Polytrade was one of the biggest recycling companies in Victoria at the time and held waste management contracts with a number of local government bodies.

The Federal Court has imposed penalties of AUD 138,600 (USD 88,973) against Polytrade, now known as PT 349 Pty Ltd, for being an accessory in the underpayment of the workers. It also imposed a fine of AUD 200,375 (USD 128,638) against PTES 928 Pty Ltd (formerly Polytrade Employment Services Pty Ltd) for directly underpaying the workers. PTES 928 Pty Ltd was set up as a labour provider, employing workers and supplying them to work at Polytrade on an on-hire basis.

A further fine of AUD 27,720 (USD 17,795) and AUD 8,820 (USD 5,662), respectively, against Polytrade’s owners, husband-and-wife Man Sang Chen and Pui Shan Ho, for also being accessories in the underpayments. Ho is also the owner of PTES 928 Pty Ltd.

The five affected workers were underpaid a total of AUD 194,249 (USD 124,705) over a period of just 20 months in 2018 and 2019 when they were employed to sort waste at facilities in Dandenong and Hallam then operated by Polytrade. The workers were on protection visas and bridging visas (pending approval of applications for protection visas) after arriving in Australia as refugees from southern Asia. They spoke limited English.

Fair Work Inspectors discovered that the five affected employees were paid a flat rate of AUD 22 (USD 14.12) per hour regardless of when they performed work, despite being required to perform night, weekend and public holiday work. Some of the workers gave evidence in Court that they worked 12-hour shifts, usually six and sometimes seven days per week.

This resulted in underpayment of workers’ minimum wage rate; overtime rates; loadings for casual, night and shift work; and penalty rates for weekend and public holiday work, under the Waste Management Award 2010.

PTES 928 Pty Ltd has back-paid the five underpaid workers in full and has also made a further AUD 2.2 million (USD 1.4 million) in back-payment to workers not involved in the Fair Work Ombudsman’s legal action who had been underpaid since 2012.

Acting Fair Work Ombudsman Kristen Hannah said blatant underpayment of visa holders in Australia was not tolerated.

Justice John Snaden said the contravening conduct was “wantonly naïve, at best. At worst, it involved a deliberate and cavalier disregard of important Award safety net obligations”.

The five workers “were paid between 53% and 58% only of what the Award required that they be paid. On any view, those are damning figures”, Justice Snaden said.

Justice Snaden also said the contraventions were “made worse by considering the personal circumstances of the relevant employees”.

“All are from migrant backgrounds and have limited to negligible written and verbal English skills,” Snaeden added.

In June 2023, the government announced a package of reforms aimed at cracking down on employers who exploit migrant workers.