Employers cannot shirk their responsibility for safe-guarding on-hire and contracted labour.
The statement yesterday by chicken processor Baiada that the company ‘’expects their labour-hire contractors will conduct their activities in accordance with the relevant legal and ethical standards’’ is an unacceptable attempt at ‘passing the buck’ in the management of on-hire workers.
Employers have a well-defined responsibility to fully satisfy themselves as to the bona fides of their suppliers and that their systems are legal and ethical. Employers that attempt to ‘side-step’ their obligations are both breaking the law and placing the well-being and safety of workers at risk.
The Recruitment & Consulting Services Association (RCSA) have been alarmed and absolutely disgusted by the treatment of migrant workers shown in the recent report by Four Corners and in the Statement of Findings from an investigation of Baiada Group by the Fair Work Ombudsman.
Unscrupulous labour-hire companies are a scourge on the community, and RCSA is working with employers, its members and industry partners, such as the unions, to clean-up the system.
A survey of over 50 RCSA members conducted in March revealed that illegal labour practices are not restricted to just the food processing and agriculture sectors. Asked if they are aware of unlawful labour suppliers operating in their client industry, members advised unlawful labour-hire practices are common in the following industry sectors:
- Accommodation and food services
- Agriculture and horticulture
- Forestry
- Fishing and hunting
- Construction
Members also advised they believe unlawful labour-hire practices were occasional in the following sectors:
- Health and social assistance
- Information media and telecommunications
It is both irresponsible and reckless to rely on a defence of ‘I didn’t know and I didn’t ask’. This fails to safe-guard the rights of the workers.
RCSA has for some time been developing a proposal for a single national framework for the regulation of the employment services and on-hire marketplace, and on Monday released for public consultation our proposal for an Employment Services Industry Code (ESIC).
This code would regulate the conduct of ALL users and suppliers of employment services at all points of the supply-chain for labour. No longer would purchasers of employment services (employers) be able to shift their responsibility, no longer would suppliers (on-hire and labour contracting companies) be able to interfere with the rights and obligations of workers.
Further information about the ESIC is available at www.rcsa.com.au
RCSA is calling on purchasers and suppliers of on-hire and labour contractor services to get behind a single national regulated code that will provide a transparent environment for employers and to ‘rub-out’ illegal operators. It is time we looked after the rights of ALL workers.
Yours sincerely,
Robert van Stokrom FRCSA
President, RCSA
