A recent survey conducted by Unions NSW examined 7,000 job advertisements in foreign languages across over 10 notorious sectors in Australia – and its findings were startling. The survey discovered that 60 per cent of these job ads were offering pay rates below the legal rate. The results are a troubling reminder that foreign workers, many of whom are also international students, are particularly vulnerable to exploitation in the Australian workforce.
Below, we detail what you need to know about the survey and your working rights in Australia.
What were the survey findings? An explainer
It was reported that the ads featuring illegally low pay rates were most commonly in Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Spanish and Portuguese languages. In terms of industries with the worst offences, the retail industry came out on top, with more than 84 per cent of foreign language ads surveyed advertising a pay rate below the award. The next few industries with the most illegal pay rates advertised were cleaning, transport, building and construction, hospitality, and hair and beauty.
According to Unions NSW, the underpayment of migrant workers has become a “business model” in Australia and the Fair Work Ombudsman is not sufficiently resourced to handle it.
Some examples of illegal pay rates provided in the survey included hospitality ads offering $15 and $17 per hour. However, the legal award for a level one food and beverage attendant is $21.97 per hour.
Read more: Breaking News: Australia’s Minimum Wage Will Increase in 2022
Fear among the international community
In its report on the survey, ABC News spoke to a migrant worker from the Philippines, Sarah* (*name has been changed for anonymity). Sarah moved to Australia for a massage therapy job in Canberra with the promise that it would pay enough for her to send money back to her family.
When she arrived, however, she found herself sharing a room with eight roommates, working 12-hour days six days per week, and earning $10 per hour. Under the Hair and Beauty Industry Award, Sarah should have been earning $24.66 an hour. Initially, Sarah didn’t realise how underpaid she was because she was prohibited from socialising by her bosses.
“We didn’t know anything because we were not allowed to talk to other people,” she explained.
However, even when she did discover the truth, she said that quitting and changing jobs wasn’t an option given that her temporary visa was tied to her employer. She feared that, if she did speak up or quit her job, she would be deported to the Philippines.
Unions NSW Secretary Mark Morey said this exact fear is rife among international workers in Australia, particularly those who have worked more hours than what is permitted on their visa. Many workers do this for fear of losing their jobs if they don’t work the required hours. Others do it because they are earning such a low wage that they need to work more hours to make ends meet.
“What we want to see is when people make a complaint [to the Fair Work Ombudsman], there’s a firewall where their complaints and their stories can’t be directly passed on to the Home Affairs Department,” said Secretary Morey.
Can my visa be cancelled if I leave a job where I’m underpaid? Understanding your working rights
The survey and Secretary Morey’s comments are an important reminder of how crucial it is to understand your working rights in Australia – especially if you’re being underpaid.
If you have breached your visa’s working hour conditions due to workplace exploitation, you can seek help from the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) and the Department of Home Affairs. For instance, while international student working hours are currently unlimited, they will be capped again in 2023. After that point, if you were to exceed your student visa working hours due to exploitation, you can still seek support without concern of your visa being cancelled.
The Assurance Protocol is a joint measure between these two organisations that protects your visa from cancellation, even if you have breached your work-related visa conditions. Under the Assurance Protocol, your visa will not be cancelled if you meet the following criteria:
- You have sought advice/support from the FWO and you’re facilitating their inquiries
- There is no other reason to cancel your visa (e.g. you’ve demonstrated poor character, pose a national security risk, etc.)
- You commit to following all your visa conditions in the future.
The Assurance Protocol protects people of various visa subclasses, including Student (subclass 500) visa holders and Working holidaymakers (subclass 417 and 462). It covers many forms of workplace exploitation, including wage underpayments, unfair deductions from wages (for things like accommodation, food or transport), and threats to cancel your visa.
To learn more, consult the FWO’s resources for visa holders and migrants. You can also get in touch with the FWO or the Department of Home Affairs directly, or check out the resources below for extra information.
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