• Prosecution

A total of $759,674 in penalties has been issued by the Supreme Court of Victoria to five companies and three company directors for their involvement in unlicensed labour hire operations in the construction industry.

The outcome is the first prosecution in the construction industry undertaken by the Labour Hire Authority (LHA) and represents the highest total penalty for breaches of labour hire law in Australia.

The penalties were issued to the companies and individuals reflecting unlawful conduct across multiple layers of subcontracting.

Rocktown Pty Ltd received a penalty of $101,774 for engaging two unlicensed subcontractors to supply workers to undertake work on prefabricated concrete for use in construction.

The unlicensed subcontractors, Unitted Construction Pty Ltd and Unitted Landscaping Pty Ltd, received penalties of $116,314 each for further sourcing workers through unlicensed providers.

Those providers, Century Interior Service Pty Ltd and VL Building Pty Ltd, received penalties of $174,470 each for providing labour hire while unlicensed.

As part of the action, company directors Ejup Ademi, Qizhi Zhang and Vincent Lin contravened the Act through their involvement in their companies’ contraventions and received penalties of $25,444 per person.

Under the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018 (Vic), it is unlawful to provide labour hire services without a licence, or to engage an unlicensed labour hire provider.

“While sub-contracting can be lawful, it can also be used to conceal worker exploitation, the involvement of people who are not fit and proper, and a range of other unlawful conduct,” said Labour Hire Licensing Commissioner, Steve Dargavel.

“Labour hire licensing provides a range of important checks and balances, on companies and the people running them, so significant penalties apply for operating without a licence.”

The successful prosecution is the latest outcome in a series of LHA prosecutions of labour hire companies operating without a licence, including:

• the successful prosecution of A L Star Express Pty Ltd which was unlicensed when it provided workers  in the horticultural industry
• the successful prosecution of Honey Bunny Global Pty Ltd for engaging unlicensed providers to source workers in the horticulture industry
• an undertaking from Cameron Workforce Pty Ltd that the company would refrain from providing labour hire services without a licence.

For more information on labour hire in the construction industry, visit Labour hire industry profile: Construction.

Labour hire licensing obligations in the construction industry

Businesses that supply labour hire workers, including those in the construction industry, must be licensed to operate in Victoria.

Host businesses must only source labour hire workers through licensed labour hire providers.

Under the Act, penalties for using or providing unlicensed labour hire services can exceed:

• $630,000 for a corporation
• $150,000 for an individual.

Labour hire providers must also be run by fit and proper persons and comply with relevant laws; non-compliance can lead to actions including imposing licence conditions, suspension or cancellation.

Businesses should use the tools on the LHA website to ensure providers have a valid licence: 

• Check a labour hire provider is licensed using LHA’s Labour Hire Licence Register.
• Stay up to date on any changes to a labour hire provider’s licence status using Follow my Providers.
• Report any suspected non-compliant or unlawful activity using the Report a Problem tool.

As well as prosecuting contraventions of the Act, LHA can prevent labour hire providers from operating in Victoria by refusing, suspending or cancelling licences.