Two Australian produce industry bodies have rallied behind the Fair Work Ombudsman's (FWO) tough stance on backpacker exploitation in the industry, whether it be through growers, labor-hire contractors (LHCs) or hostels.

National vegetable and potato group Ausveg and Queensland grower body Growcom said while most operators did the right thing, the deliberate exploitation of backpackers was unacceptable, with a need for appropriate enforcement and regulation.

The response comes after the Ombudsman received fresh complaints of backpackers being lured to regional centers for work by labor-hire operators who allegedly treated them poorly, bullied and sexually harassed them, and also charged AUD$450 (US$362) for the job finding service.

Ausveg spokesperson Andrew White said his organization fully supported the attention the issue was receiving.

"Labour hire contractors are a vital source of labour for the vegetable industry. It is important that we support labour hire companies and growers that are doing the right thing by appropriately regulating, penalising and eliminating those labour providers that are doing the wrong thing," White said.

"The reputation of Australian growers and the industry is suffering because of the dishonest practices of some labour hire providers.

"Growers pay labour hire contractors to provide a service and therefore expect them to do the required checks into the legality of workers and to ensure that appropriate pay conditions are being met."

Growcom commercial services manager Donna Mogg said her entity had been working diligently with growers over the past year to educate them about their obligations when planning to work with LHCs.

"Don't even consider offers that are clearly in breach of the Award – an offer to provide labour at (AUD)$20 (US$16.11) per hour is likely to be illegal and a grower will be drawn into a prosecution if it can be demonstrated that they willingly entered into such an arrangement," she said.

"Make a written agreement with all LHC which sets out the obligations and responsibilities of each party. This must cover all legal and Award obligations and stipulate that the LHC will provide evidence that wages are being paid correctly, and WorkCover, superannuation and tax are also in line with the law.

"Do random checks with the workers to ensure they are being paid correctly and are receiving their entitlements."

Mogg said the Ombudsman had indicated the most common issue of non-compliance related to rates of pay or piecework agreements.

"True piecework agreements can deliver considerable financial benefits to good workers and can provide a degree of flexibility while training inexperienced workers. They have been a feature of the industry for decades," she said.

"However, rates must be set appropriately for the type of work and produce farmed. Proper consideration must be given as to what constitutes the 'average competent worker' – for the commodity grown, for the farm and for the workplace environment.

"It is not possible to set an across-the-board horticulture industry standard – for example, harvesting a strawberry is different work to harvesting a banana; farm set-ups are different; and weather will affect productivity."

She said the system had led some unscrupulous operators to abuse the system and use piece rates to underpay workers.

"They do this by setting the harvest pay rate too low. For example, if you set a pick rate of 50c per kilo of strawberries, a worker must pick more than 47 kilos of strawberries to make the minimum casual piecework rate. This is unfair and unacceptable," Mogg said.

"On inspecting a farm, the FWO will want to know how the rates were arrived at, hours of work undertaken, and to sight the written agreement. All piecework arrangements must be in writing."

She said the FWO would hold growers responsible for ensuring that people working on their farms are receiving the correct entitlements, and there would be clear avenues for action if an intent to enter into a sub-standard arrangement could be shown.

"However, a grower who enters into a written agreement with a labour hire company which clearly establishes the respective rights and responsibilities of each party, including correct payment of wages, superannuation and WorkCover, as well as visa checking, should be protected from prosecution," she said.

Mogg said Growcom called on the federal government to look at industry recommendations about the licensing of labour hire companies.

"There should also be an avenue for publishing a list of those LHC to avoid and for publicly naming and shaming dodgy companies as well as imposing heavy penalties on those who would exploit workers," she said.

"While Industry focus must be on educating growers about their legal and ethical obligations to their employees, more is needed to expose those who mislead and dupe employees and lead or leave growers exposed to investigation and prosecution as accessories.

"We applaud this ongoing campaign of the Fair Work Ombudsman to pursue those who would exploit farm workers to line their own pockets – especially backpackers and seasonal workers who are so vital to our harvests."

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