In July 2023, adjustments have been launched to the Honest Work Act to align with the Australian Authorities’s new Defending
Worker Entitlement legal guidelines.
The amendments embody adjustments to the
Defending Employee Entitlements (PWE) Invoice that goals to eradicate exploitative work circumstances and shield migrant employees.
The change spells out that migrant employees in Australia might be protected, and be paid their office rights and entitlements, no matter their immigration standing below the Migration Act 1958. It additionally clarifies {that a} violation of the Migration Act doesn’t influence the validity of a migrant employee’s employment or service contracts, even in circumstances the place the migrant employee has violated their visa circumstances, lacks work rights, or doesn’t have the authorized proper to remain in Australia.
Let’s unpack why these adjustments matter and the way employers want to have interaction and handle migrant employees.
A Nearer Have a look at the Modifications
As famous, a provision throughout the
PWE (Defending Employee Entitlements) Invoice 2023, ensures that migrant employees obtain safety below the Honest Work Act 2009 (FW Act), even when they don’t totally adjust to their immigration legal guidelines or visa circumstances.
This alteration serves to guard migrant employees to offer the identical rights and entitlements below office legal guidelines that different staff working in Australia have and to restrict migrant employee exploitation.
This provision additionally establishes legal offenses for employers who use coercion or drive to compel short-term migrant employees to work in violation of the phrases of their visa circumstances. In different phrases, it makes it unlawful for employers to strain or manipulate migrant employees into doing work that goes towards the circumstances specified of their visas, akin to underpayment or longer work hours.
This implies even migrant employees who lack correct work authorisation or have visa discrepancies, akin to not having the correct to be in Australia or breaching a visa situation are entitled to the identical wages and circumstances as each different employee.
While the migrant employees who could also be illegally staying in Australia or flouting their work circumstances could face penalties below the Migration Act, they won’t be denied their rightful compensation for hours labored.
Why This Issues: A Step In direction of Moral Employment
A number of Australian companies have been discovered responsible of migrant employee exploitation. In 2017 for instance,
a 7-Eleven franchise was uncovered for underpaying employees tens of millions of {dollars}, a lot of which have been worldwide scholar employees, highlighting the significance of clear work entitlements, justice, and safety for short-term migrant employees.
Implications for Employers: Simplifying Compliance
A part of an employer’s accountability is to know and abide by a employee’s proper to work, together with abiding by visa circumstances which might change at any time.
Options like WorkPro’s Visa Entitlement Verification Workplace (VEVO) verification and automatic polling perform can help by checking every employee’s proper to work on the graduation of employment, and routinely persevering with to examine the visa at a daily interval, flagging any impending visa adjustments, and offering a report that rapidly means that you can keep knowledgeable and proactively handle any adjustments, avoiding potential penalties and reputational injury.
The fact is that employers mustn’t make use of or have interaction employees who would not have the correct to work and abide by any circumstances.
The adjustments to the Act point out that employee exploitation stays a difficulty, and given the amendments, does counsel that Honest Work is more likely to deploy a marketing campaign to make sure employers are adhering to the obligations. It’s subsequently finest apply to make sure you have processes that transparently meet the requirement, and you’ll confidentially exhibit your practices if required, together with a transparent audit path.
Advancing In direction of a Way forward for Equitable Employment
As we adapt to the provisions of recent laws, it is clear that the panorama of Australian employment is evolving. WorkPro is dedicated to guiding employers, HR, and recruitment and hiring groups by way of these adjustments with effectivity and experience. Our focus ensures that staying compliant with evolving laws is simple, eradicating complexity from the method.
WorkPro’s instruments are designed to streamline the compliance course of, permitting companies to deal with what they do finest whereas sustaining moral employment practices.