Public school cleaners underpaid as operators sell contracts on

CLEANING companies employed at state government schools are selling their contracts to other operators, leading to workers being underpaid by up to $8000.

CLEANING companies employed at state government schools are selling their contracts to other operators, leading to workers being underpaid by up to $8000.

Workers have come forward to reveal some companies are “franchising out” their cleaning contracts, which is forbidden by the Education ­Department.

It comes after the Herald Sun revealed last week that ­underpayment was rife in ­Victoria’s public schools, with cleaners underpaid by at least $10 million a year.

A union audit of cleaners working for Paraserve Cleaning Services, which cleans at least 50 schools in Victoria, has uncovered evidence that it is selling off, or contracting out, its cleaning agreements.

Cleaners are being paid up to $8000 a year below the minimum wage, but have to pay a lump-sum contract or “franchise” fee to the company.

One cleaner reported an annual wage of just $25,000.

United Voice state secretary Jess Walsh said the underpayments were “one of the most disturbing cases” the union had come across in state government schools.

The union says cleaners are getting “substantially less” than the minimum wage. Picture: Thinkstock

She said there were “apparent award breaches” at every one of the 14 schools audited.

“We also discovered that they appear to be winning school contracts and then ­onselling them to desperate cleaners, who have to set up a business to get the cleaning job,” she said.

“The cleaners are getting substantially less than the minimum wage and after all those dealings, the school probably doesn’t even know who’s got the contract.

“Basically, it looks like government contracts are being bought and sold out the back of a car boot.”

The union’s surveys reveal the company is also underpaying its own workers. One was being paid an $18 per hour flat rate, resulting in underpayments totalling more than $5000. Another was underpaid almost $2000 for the year.

The Department of Education and Training is investigating the allegations about the company.

Responding to questions about the broader underpayment scandal, a spokesman for the Fair Work Ombudsman confirmed it was investigating claims of underpayment of public-school cleaners.

The watchdog is also investigating alleged underpayment of security guards at state government-owned sites.