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Many growers see the use of piece rates as an attractive option to avoid paying overtime to casual workers employed under the Horticulture Award. While piece rate workers are not subject to the overtime provisions of the Horticulture Award, changing to piece rate payment is not a simple or easy process. What is a piece […]
Category Archives: Harvest Trail Information Service
National Harvest Labour Information Services Articles
29
Aug
Aug
Being presented with the Women in Horticulture Award at the recent Hort Connections Conference in Melbourne was a career highlight for East Gippsland farmer Carmel Ingram. The Ingram family are well known in the East Gippsland area. Their integrated vegetable production and transport business, Bonaccord, is named after the lane on which the family dairy […]
29
Aug
Aug
Labour Hire Update Three states now have labour hire licensing laws – Queensland, Victoria and South Australia. Is this a national trend? Will growers in the other states find it more difficult to prove ethical sourcing of labour for their markets without the support of a licensing regime for their labour hire contractors (LHC)? Queensland […]
28
Aug
Aug
All growers and contractors should be aware that the Fair Work Commission (FWC) handed down its 2018/19 Annual Wage Review decision on 20 July 2019. The decision has increased the national minimum wage and the Modern Award minimum wages by 3% from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2019. The current […]
28
Aug
Aug
Labour Hire Update Three Australian states now have labour hire licensing laws – Queensland, Victoria and South Australia. For anyone considering working for a business or individual who hires your labour to a farm, you will be better protected, but only if your employer is licensed. How does this help workers? There is quite a […]
28
Aug
Aug
Absence makes the heart grow fonder When you live in Canada, and your boyfriend lives in Australia, the heart-strings tug heavily to entice you to travel across the Pacific. That’s how it was for Bronagh Smyth, a young Canadian woman who joined her Canadian-Australian boyfriend in Adelaide in July last year. Like a lot […]
31
Jul
Jul
Backpackers make up a large part of Australia’s seasonal horticulture workforce. If you hold a working holiday visa (subclass 417 or 462), you can extend it for two or even three years, by working on Australian farms. You can do a lot to make finding this kind of work easier. Well-prepared travellers will be […]
19
Jul
Jul
The Australian income year ends on 30 June – do you need to do a tax return? If you work in Australia, tax will be withheld from your pay and you may need to lodge a tax return each year. The requirement to lodge a tax return will depend on how much income you have earned during […]
03
Jun
Jun
The ‘Record My Hours’ mobile phone app makes it quick and easy for workers to keep a personal record of the hours they work for pay and visa purposes. The Fair Work Ombudsman strongly encourages all employers to keep proper employee records including hours worked and rates of pay and to issue payslips to all […]
03
Jun
Jun
New pay rates for casual workers Casual workers in horticulture are now entitled to overtime payment in certain conditions and should get familiar with their entitlements under the Hort Award. A recent decision by the Fair Work Commission that changes the Hort Award, which sets the base pay rate for people working in horticulture, means […]