Record fine for unlicensed labour hire provider in Caboolture

A firm operating without a licence on a farm north of Brisbane has been slugged with a record fine.

LABOUR HIRE UNDER FIRE: The new Act aims to clamp down on unethical labour hire companies across all industries.

An unlicensed labour hire firm has been handed a record fine for operating near Caboolture.

Yellow Hoa Pty Ltd was convicted and fined $120,000 in the Caboolture Magistrates Court for operating without a licence under the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2017, the highest penalty imposed to date.

Director Thi Hoa Duong was also convicted of aiding, counselling or procuring that offence. She was fined $60,000, with six months’ imprisonment in default of payment.

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The Queensland Office of Industrial Relations (OIR) said the $180,000 in finds was a stark reminder that those businesses and individuals who exploited labour hire workers risked facing the full brunt of the law.

The OIR said court action followed a raid on an Elimbah farm by officers from Queensland’s Labour Hire Licensing Compliance Unit, Australian Border Force and Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, who had been tipped off by a member of the public about the exploitation of workers at the property.

Investigations found workers were paid in cash at rates well below the award and were not paid superannuation.

WorkCover Queensland confirmed that at the time, Yellow Hoa had no workers’ compensation policy in place to safeguard employees.

“As a result, Yellow Hoa and its director benefited financially from deliberately failing to comply with a range of laws,” the OIR said.

“Yellow Hoa did not apply for a labour hire licence in Queensland, but still illegally provided labour to the farm at Elimbah for a six-month period until June 18, 2019.”

“In sentencing, Magistrate James Blanch noted the behaviour of the defendant not paying workers properly or paying their superannuation or workers’ compensation despite having received funds from the grower was blatantly fraudulent,” the OIR said.

“Additionally, Ms Duong had not co-operated with inspectors and attempted to deregister the company just as investigations started to evade liability.”