[Australia] Farm workers get minimum wage after major industry overhaul

[Australia] Farm workers get minimum wage after major industry overhaul
05 Nov 2021

Farmers will now be forced to pay a minimum wage to pickers after the Fair Work Commission ruled in favour of putting a floor in the award. It is the biggest shake-up of Australia’s horticulture sector in decades, The Guardian reports.

The move effectively abolishes piece rates; the system under which a worker is paid according to how much they pick, rather than an hourly rate.

Piece rates give workers no guarantee of making minimum wage and the system has been linked to exploitation following claims from some workers that they have been paid as little as $3 an hour.

Farmers have been vocal opponents of any changes to the award rate; some have argued that a floor in the minimum pay rate would prove a burden and result in an increase in prices for customers.

In December 2020 the Australian Workers Union (AWU) lodged its claim with the FWC, arguing that every worker should be guaranteed a minimum rate of at least $25.41 an hour.

In its finding, which was delivered on November 3, the Fair Work Commission said the floor was essential to make sure pickers were paid a minimum wage.

“The existing pieceworker provisions in the horticulture award are not fit for purpose,” the finding said.

“They do not provide a fair and relevant minimum safety net.

“The full bench was satisfied that the insertion of a minimum wage floor with consequential time recording provisions in the piecework clause is necessary to ensure that the horticulture award achieves the modern awards objective.”

Piece rates were legally meant to enable the average picker to earn at least 15 per cent more per hour than the minimum hourly rate but the FWC found that they were widely used to underpay workers.

It found a “significant” proportion of pickers earned less than the national minimum wage.

“The totality of the evidence presents a picture of significant underpayment of pieceworkers in the horticulture industry when compared to the minimum award hourly rate,” it said.

The FWC also found that paying workers an hourly rate would actually make workers more productive.

“It is inherently unlikely that introducing a minimum wage floor will ‘disincentivise’ pieceworkers currently earning more than the minimum award rate,” it said.

Daniel Walton - the AWU national secretary - said it was one of the most significant industrial decisions of modern times.

“Fruit pickers in Australia have been routinely and systemically exploited and underpaid,” Mr Walton said.

“Too many farmers have been able to manipulate the piece rate system to establish pay and conditions far beneath Australian standards.”

At the hearing, the union presented the commission with published research that suggested the average piecework picker was paid just $11.69 an hour.

Mr Walton said this decision would provide a needed safety net for fruit pickers.

“Now it will be easy for workers - even if they don’t have good English language skills or Australian connections - to understand if they’re being ripped off,” Mr Walton said.

“From now on if you’re making less than $25 an hour fruit picking in Australia your boss is breaking the law and stealing from you.”

The National Farmers Federation opposed the changes, along with industry groups. It has not yet commented on the decision.

Tony Mahar - the NFF CEO - had previously defended piece rates, arguing that they incentivised workers to pick more.

“The risk of putting a minimum hourly wage floor price on piecework rates is that growers will see productivity and the pool of suitable workers drop in the midst of an already chronic labour shortage brought about by COVID border closures,” Mr Mahar said.

“Employment is the number one expense for many growers, at as much as 66% of their operating costs, and any significant increase to that could see businesses fail.”


Source: The Guardian

(Quotes via original reporting)

Farmers will now be forced to pay a minimum wage to pickers after the Fair Work Commission ruled in favour of putting a floor in the award. It is the biggest shake-up of Australia’s horticulture sector in decades, The Guardian reports.

The move effectively abolishes piece rates; the system under which a worker is paid according to how much they pick, rather than an hourly rate.

Piece rates give workers no guarantee of making minimum wage and the system has been linked to exploitation following claims from some workers that they have been paid as little as $3 an hour.

Farmers have been vocal opponents of any changes to the award rate; some have argued that a floor in the minimum pay rate would prove a burden and result in an increase in prices for customers.

In December 2020 the Australian Workers Union (AWU) lodged its claim with the FWC, arguing that every worker should be guaranteed a minimum rate of at least $25.41 an hour.

In its finding, which was delivered on November 3, the Fair Work Commission said the floor was essential to make sure pickers were paid a minimum wage.

“The existing pieceworker provisions in the horticulture award are not fit for purpose,” the finding said.

“They do not provide a fair and relevant minimum safety net.

“The full bench was satisfied that the insertion of a minimum wage floor with consequential time recording provisions in the piecework clause is necessary to ensure that the horticulture award achieves the modern awards objective.”

Piece rates were legally meant to enable the average picker to earn at least 15 per cent more per hour than the minimum hourly rate but the FWC found that they were widely used to underpay workers.

It found a “significant” proportion of pickers earned less than the national minimum wage.

“The totality of the evidence presents a picture of significant underpayment of pieceworkers in the horticulture industry when compared to the minimum award hourly rate,” it said.

The FWC also found that paying workers an hourly rate would actually make workers more productive.

“It is inherently unlikely that introducing a minimum wage floor will ‘disincentivise’ pieceworkers currently earning more than the minimum award rate,” it said.

Daniel Walton - the AWU national secretary - said it was one of the most significant industrial decisions of modern times.

“Fruit pickers in Australia have been routinely and systemically exploited and underpaid,” Mr Walton said.

“Too many farmers have been able to manipulate the piece rate system to establish pay and conditions far beneath Australian standards.”

At the hearing, the union presented the commission with published research that suggested the average piecework picker was paid just $11.69 an hour.

Mr Walton said this decision would provide a needed safety net for fruit pickers.

“Now it will be easy for workers - even if they don’t have good English language skills or Australian connections - to understand if they’re being ripped off,” Mr Walton said.

“From now on if you’re making less than $25 an hour fruit picking in Australia your boss is breaking the law and stealing from you.”

The National Farmers Federation opposed the changes, along with industry groups. It has not yet commented on the decision.

Tony Mahar - the NFF CEO - had previously defended piece rates, arguing that they incentivised workers to pick more.

“The risk of putting a minimum hourly wage floor price on piecework rates is that growers will see productivity and the pool of suitable workers drop in the midst of an already chronic labour shortage brought about by COVID border closures,” Mr Mahar said.

“Employment is the number one expense for many growers, at as much as 66% of their operating costs, and any significant increase to that could see businesses fail.”


Source: The Guardian

(Quotes via original reporting)

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