Suntop Solar Farm workers repaid $100k in overtime
Workers on a solar farm which came under fire for alleged dangerous behaviour last month have been paid back following wage theft accusations.
NSW
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Workers on a solar farm have been paid back more than $100,000 after accusations of wage theft.
Bouygues Construction Australia had already come under fire for alleged dirty and dangerous behaviour at the Suntop Solar Farm near Wellington.
The recruitment company the organisation employed has now been forced to pay back $102,082.53 after failing to pay casual electrical workers the 20 minute overtime meal break they are entitled to.
Spinifex Recruiting Managing Director said once the issue was brought to their attention it was fixed.
“There was no wage theft. A system error was discovered and when it was discovered we rectified the issue without any misunderstanding,” he said.
“The workers on the solar farm are routinely working in excess of 60 hour weeks and as they go through various points of overtime they qualify for different rates, breaks and awards.
This is how the system error occurred.
Electrical Trade Union Deputy Secretary Allen Hicks told The Daily Telegraph the payback was a result of their investigation.
“This is a win for our members but our work doesn’t stop here. We are now investigating a second award breach at the same NSW Government approved site,” he said.
“Last month, we exposed the dangerous conditions our members are being forced to endure at Suntop Solar Farm, with workers’ lives repeatedly put at risk by shocking safety breaches.
“We have previously uncovered evidence of mice and rats eating food, disgusting toilet and fridge conditions, and a lack of women’s hygiene facilities, which were only investigated after the ETU contacted SafeWork NSW.”
Footage released in April showed a shipping container being moved by a crane above a lunch-room trailer.
The company said at the time they were aware of the incident and that no one was injured. They added, “the health and safety of our workforce is our number one priority”.
Pictures that the union said were taken at the worksite show a soiled toilet, a dead mouse inside a cupboard, and food that appears to have been chewed by rodents.
The union also said workers hadn’t been given access to fresh drinking water and had not been provided cover to protect from the sun.
Mr Hicks said the union will keep holding companies to account.
“We will continue to expose clean energy’s dirty secrets by keeping a close eye on solar farms across the state,” he said.
“The ETU will not stop fighting on behalf of our members, holding companies and their
contractors to account when they fail to meet their obligations.”
Originally published as Suntop Solar Farm workers repaid $100k in overtime
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