Boss imposed ’unlawful’ $500 booze fines on farm workers

A Queensland business fined migrant workers if they drank at their work site accommodation, even after hours.

Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth has taken legal action.

A Queensland labour hire business unlawfully imposed an ­alcohol ban on low-paid migrant workers that saw them subject to $500 fines if they drank at their work site accommodation, even after hours, the Fair Work Ombudsman alleges.

In a unique legal action, the FWO alleges McCrystal Agricultural Services and sole director Russell McCrystal unlawfully fined 29 employees $500 each over a three-month period for breaches of its booze ban.

Most of the impacted farm workers, who were from Vanuatu, were living in accommodation on the sweet potato farm at South Kolan, west of Bundaberg.

The company is an approved employer under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme.

At the time, the workers were paid the award minimum rate of $20.33 an hour plus a 25 per cent casual loading.

According to the FWO’s statement of claim, the company’s alcohol and drug policy stipulated that consumption of alcohol and drugs by employees was not permitted during work or in work site accommodation.

Workers were told a first breach carried a $500 fine while a second breach “will result in your employment being terminated and you will be returned home”. The fines were deducted from their wages.

The company also allegedly deducted $2.50 more a week than the cost of the health insurance premiums it was required – for a fee – to obtain for the workers, resulting in $1282 in deductions over four months.

After mistakenly overpaying 28 casuals for overtime, the FWO alleges the company deducted $2548 from their wages, without their approval, to recover the overpayments in the following pay period.

Overall, the FWO alleges McCrystal Agricultural Services unlawfully deducted $18,331 from 66 employees who were covered by the Horticulture Award for work performed between August 2021 and March 2022.

The Fair Work Ombudsman alleges the deductions breached the Fair Work Act as they were not principally for the benefit of the employees, and were not otherwise lawfully authorised.

Further, the overtime overpayment deductions were not authorised in writing.

In some instances, employees were left with only about $150 net pay in a particular week following deductions, including the allegedly unlawful alcohol policy deductions.

The employer has rectified the underpayments and changed its alcohol policy to remove the threat of fines.

The farm workers performed tasks such as cutting and sorting sweet potato vine into bundles; planting and packing sweet potatoes; weeding; general farm hand tasks; and constructing boxes for packaging.

Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said taking action to protect visa holder workers and ensuring compliance across the agriculture sector was one of the regulator’s priorities.

“That focus includes ensuring any deductions from the wages of vulnerable PALM scheme workers are lawful and appropriate. We will hold employers to account,” she said. “Deductions are lawful in a limited range of situations, and employers must understand those laws. We have a range of information to help employers get it right.

“The visa holder workers allegedly underpaid in this case were only in Australia for a limited period and were highly reliant on their employer.

“Any employees with concerns about their pay or entitlements should contact the FWO for free advice and assistance.”

The FWO investigated the employer proactively because of its status as an approved employer under the scheme. The company faces penalties of up to $66,600 per contravention and Mr McCrystal faces a penalty of up to $13,320.