Pacific Island workers on a Queensland farm had extra money taken from their pay for health insurance, with deductions higher than the real premiums, according to the Fair Work Ombudsman.
The Federal Circuit Court found that McCrystal Agricultural Services charged 27 full-time staff $2.50 more each week than the actual cost of their cover between November 2021 and March 2022. The overcharging added up to $1,282.50.
The court ruled this was part of a wider pattern of unlawful deductions at the sweet potato farm near Bundaberg. Penalties of $43,000 were imposed on the company and $5,500 on its director, Russell McCrystal.
Fair Work investigators also discovered that workers were fined under the company’s alcohol policy, with 29 staff losing a total of $14,500 over three months in 2022. In another case, 28 casual employees who had been mistakenly overpaid for overtime later had $2,548.60 taken back from their next wages without their consent.
Altogether, $18,331 was unlawfully deducted from 66 employees working under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility Scheme. Most were from Vanuatu and lived in housing provided on the farm.
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said the case showed how vulnerable visa workers can be.
“The visa holder workers underpaid in this case were highly reliant on their employer. Acting to protect visa holder workers and ensuring compliance with workplace laws across the agriculture sector are priorities for the Fair Work Ombudsman. That focus includes ensuring any deductions from the wages of vulnerable visa holder workers are lawful and appropriate. Where they are not, we will hold employers to account and significant penalties may follow,” Booth said.
The Ombudsman confirmed that the company has since repaid the workers and changed its alcohol policy.
