Horticulture company and directors issued penalties totalling $263,889 for failing to comply with licence obligations
The company had failed to notify LHA of changes in directors, and that a director was not a fit and proper person.
The company had failed to notify LHA of changes in directors, and that a director was not a fit and proper person.
The total penalties of $759,674 represent the largest ever total penalty for breaches of labour hire law in Australia
The business applied for a labour hire licence in April 2024, after allegedly promoting labour hire services in the horticulture and meat processing industries.
The company engaged seven unlicensed labour hire providers to source workers for orchards in the Cobram area.
The Court found the company was unlicensed when it supplied workers to horticulture businesses in Koo Wee Rup, Rosebud, Torquay and Devon Meadows.
LHA has commenced legal action after several companies allegedly engaged unlicensed labour hire providers.
LHA alleges the company provided unlicensed labour hire services, and underpaid and provided substandard accommodation to workers.
The company allegedly failed to notify LHA of multiple changes in directors, and appointed a director who was not a fit and proper person.
LHA has filed proceedings in the Supreme Court of Victoria alleging the company continued to provide workers after its labour hire licence application was refused.
A Victorian company and its director have been fined the highest combined penalty in Australian history for contraventions of labour hire law, following a successful LHA prosecution.