A VICTORIAN on-hire company has had its labour agreement terminated after it was found to be employing its 457 visa workers on a casual basis, underpaying them and providing false and misleading information to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC).

It was the first time the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Chris Bowen has terminated a labour agreement, which in this case, allowed the company to recruit 457 visa holders.

Following the termination, Mr Bowen sent a stern warning to companies.

“The government will not tolerate abuse of the skilled migration program and this termination sends a strong message to companies that they should fulfill their obligations under their agreement,” Mr Bowen said.

A business sponsor has nine obligations they must comply with. These include an obligation:

1. To cooperate with inspectors;
2. To ensure equivalent terms and conditions of employment;
3. To pay travel costs to enable sponsored persons to leave Australia;
4. To pay costs incurred by the Commonwealth to locate and remove unlawful non-citizen;
5. To keep records;
6. To provide records and information to the Minister;
7. To provide information to Immigration when certain events occur;
8. To ensure primary sponsored person does not work in an occupation other than an approved occupation; and
9. Not to recover certain costs from a primary sponsored person or secondary sponsored person.

Mr Bowen said, ‘companies found to be doing the wrong thing may be fined or suspended from using the program or, in serious cases such as this, their labour agreement may be terminated or court action taken’.

The company’s breaches were uncovered during a monitoring exercise by DIAC.

Mr Bowen said there has been an increase in action taken against non-compliant companies.

“Ongoing compliance action has resulted in an increase in the number of infringement notices served, with 31 notices from the department amounting to $165,000 in fines over the past financial year,” he said.
 
Mr Bowen noted that most employers do the right thing and the 457 visa continues to provide a fast and flexible process for the entry of overseas workers where they are needed to fill skilled vacancies.

Since this event, DIAC has also increased investigations into the standard 457 visa program.

To view the minister’s media release, click here.

AREEA Migration Services

Need help with your labour agreement or have another migration query? AREEA Migration Services can assist your company with all of its migration needs.

AREEA offers an extensive range of migration services including temporary skilled migration, permanent skilled migration, assistance with compliance audits, labour agreements, enterprise migration agreements and much more.

Call the AREEA Migration Services team on (02) 9211 3566 or email [email protected]

For more information about the service, click here.