The Recruiters' Casebook

If you’re a licensed labour hire provider or operating lawfully in a jurisdiction that doesn’t yet have labour hire licensing, then you probably won’t want to have to compete against unlicensed operators who are avoiding regulatory responsibilities and costs. But take heart. The Queensland and Victorian regulators seem to be stepping up to shut down the shadow operators. Here are notes of a couple of recent prosecutions that show that the regulators mean business. Unlicensed NQ labour hire providers convicted and fined total of $360,000 A North Queensland provider disguised the fact that it was not licensed and misled farmers into believing that arrangements for the supply of its workers were legitimate. Worker complaint leads to big fines for unlicensed supply of security guards A South Australian based security company and its Chief Operating Officer were convicted and fined $150,000 and $50,000 respectively for supplying security guards in Queensland without having a Qld labour hire licence. Over the last few months, the Victorian Labour Hire Authority has also gone on the front foot with several Supreme Court prosecutions of labour hire providers and their directors for alleged: unlicensed trading; and failure to notify changes in directorships I’ll have more to say when the outcomes of these cases are known. In the meantime, it’s important that legitimate labour hire providers don’t just sit by quietly and let these things pas unnoticed. You’ve all got networks. Use them to spread the word about what’s happening so that your workers and clients clearly know where you stand when it comes to dealing with shadow operators. Share these stories and join us in creating a fair and transparent labour hire industry together. Andrew C. Wood