Victoria’s first ever Labour Hire Licensing Scheme will come into force on 29 April 2019. The scheme is designed to protect vulnerable workers through exploitation by dodgy labour hire contractors, particularly in the horticulture industry.

The main purpose of labour hire licensing is to provide barriers to entry to the labour hire industry, ensuring that providers meet strict licensing requirements and prove to be legitimate businesses. These standards measure a labour hire provider’s past and future ability to meet employer obligations such as workplace, superannuation, tax, migration and safety laws, as well as applicable accommodation standards.

Labour hire providers are provided a six month transitional period from 29 April 2019 to apply for a labour hire license, with the transitional period ending on 29 October 2019. Providers of labour hire services may continue to operate during this transitional period.

Under the scheme, providers of labour hire services will be required to hold a licence and hosts will only be allowed to use licensed providers.

Significant penalties are imposed for not meeting the new licensing requirements, in particular for:

• Providers of labour hire services that operate without a license from 29 October 2019
• Hosts/users of labour hire services who enter into an arrangement after 29 October 2019 with a labour hire provider who has not obtained a license.

The substantial penalty ranges from a maximum in excess of $120,000 for a natural person to in excess of $500,000 for a corporation in either scenario above.

If you are a labour hire provider or you are a host to a labour hire provider, Trident Financial Group can assist you with getting ready for the commencement of the labour hire licensing scheme in Victoria. If you operate in the State of Queensland and South Australia, we may be able to assist you with the application of a labour hire license in those states as well where similar laws apply to the labour hire industry.  Specifically, we can assist you with:

Applying for a labour hire license including:

• Preparation of a business plan (where applicable)
• Preparation of accompanying financial statements such as a cash flow statement, balance sheet and profit and loss statement
• Review of current employment contracts and preparation of new employment contracts where required including contracts for workers on temporary visas and specific awards
• Review of whether you meet the requirements for employing a worker on a temporary visa
• Review of your business insurance coverage and provision of labour hire specific insurance where required
• Setup of payroll to ensure PAYG withholding, superannuation and payroll tax obligations are met
• Preparation of employee on-boarding documentation and induction manual

Should you wish to get in touch with us regarding the above, please do not hesitate to contact our labour hire specialist, Ernie Thai on 03 9899 4036.