The SDA applauds the Queensland’s Labor Government for its plans to introduce labour hire legislation which will mandate the licensing of labour hire companies from 2018

Why is this important?

The proposed legislation is very important because more and more companies are seriously considering or in fact moving away from employing their own workforce and going to a third party which employs the labour. By doing so, the principal employer engages the labour hire company and they then hire the workers.

The principal employer washes their hands from all responsibility and the labour hire firms assume responsibility for getting the work done.
The track record of these labour hire firms is not good.

In the last 2-3 years, there have been numerous stories in the media where workers, particularly overseas workers, have been exploited by unscrupulous employers. There have been incidences where passports have been seized and these same workers being treated like slaves. It is also not surprising that there has also been a systemic underpayment of workers.

SDA successfully lobbies the government

• Under the legislation, all labour hire providers operating in Queensland would need to:
  pass a fit-and-proper person test;
• pay a licence fee;
• comply with workplace laws, including workers’ compensation, wages and superannuation;
• report regularly on their operations; and
• report on the number of employees they hire including those on work visas.

The new laws will hit these unscrupulous employers in the back pocket, protect workers and provide decent employers with a level playing field.