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Breaking News
Pay protector targets wine industry ahead of harvest
14th November, 2008
Western Australia's premier wine-producing regions are the latest target of the Federal Workplace Ombudsman.
It has put 200 wineries and vineyard contractors on notice that they will be subject to a series of random audits.
The campaign - to be run by the national pay protector's Bunbury office - will begin now to avoid the industry's peak period at harvest time.
It aims to educate employers ahead of them engaging hundreds of casual workers in February/March for the 2009 vintage.
Workplace Ombudsman Executive Director Michael Campbell says the industry has been earmarked for scrutiny because of its phenomenal growth.
He believes many in the sector may not be aware of changes to employment conditions over the past three years.
The long-standing State Wineries Award of 1969 was varied in 2005 and became what is now the Notional Agreement Preserving State Award (NAPSA) Wine Industry (WA) Award.
New terms and conditions cover virtually all employees engaged in viticulture, including previously excluded vineyard workers who pruned vines and picked grapes.
"We believe this campaign may be the first time some wineries, vineyard contractors and viticulture employees will have been made aware of the scope of the NAPSA," Mr Campbell said.
"Our first objective is to alert the industry to its existence and encourage employers to better inform themselves about their workplace obligations."
"It is important that employers realise they must keep accurate time and wage records and to issue pay slips."
Mr Campbell said compliance with record-keeping requirements continued to be an issue across many industries.
"Ancedotal evidence suggests it is often due to ignorance, so education is a critical part of work," he said.
"We also find in regional areas that employees are often reluctant to complain about their job for fear they might put it at risk."
"Similarly, they worry that if they make a complaint, that it could impact on their social life, particularly in small communities where everyone knows one another."
"It is important they understand there is an agency then can turn to if they don't believe they are receiving their proper entitlements, and they can come to us confidentially."
Mr Campbell said he expected the Bunbury office to randomly audit up to a quarter of the 200 wineries and vineyard contractors in the South-West and Great Southern regions.
He issued a reminder to employers who were selected that workplace inspectors had wide powers to demand records and there were penalties for those who failed to comply.
In a Western Australian first, a hairdressing salon which refused to produce documents was fined $4500 in the Federal Magistrates Court in Perth late last month.
Mr Campbell said the penalty should serve as a warning to employers who thought they might try to obstruct the Workplace Ombudsman from doing its job.
"It is our task to ensure employers comply with workplace laws and employees are receiving their proper entitlements," he said.
The latest audits come hot on the heels of a campaign the Workplace Ombudsman began last month to randomly check the books of 100 employers in Kalgoorlie, Norseman, Esperance and Ravensthorpe.
In June, a campaign targeting the hair and beauty industry in WA recovered almost $40,000 in underpayments for 34 workers after audits of 81 premises identitied 29 breaches of workplace laws.
The Workplace Ombudsman operates a Help Line on 1300 724 200 for both workers and employers to check their rights and responsibilities.
www.wo.gov.au Sunday 9th November 2008