Australia: Calls for Nationwide Regulation Following Successful Labor Hire Scheme

Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace is pushing for a national licensing regulation following the third successful year of a scheme aimed to regulate labor hire practices in Queensland. There is currently no nationwide scheme in place to protect against worker exploitation and unlawful business practices.

The labor hire licensing scheme was enacted in 2017 to protect workers and support compliant labor hire providers, with strong penalties for unlicensed labor hire providers or employers that are using an unlicensed provider. Action has been taken against 650 non-compliant labor hire providers since the scheme’s inception, ranging from conditional licensing and license suspension to prosecution.

The labor hire scheme regulations are also contributing to the success of compliant labor hire providers. For 3,350 legitimate providers in Queensland, licensing regulations have provided balance in the industry and will help ensure these providers will not be undercut by non-compliant providers’ unlawful practices in the future.

Takeaway: Companies engaging non-employee workers through labor hire providers need to comply with the Australian regulations. A workforce solutions partner such as AGS provides supplier management expertise to help ensure all sources of workers are known to the organization and assessed for compliance to rules that may evolve over time.

Australia: Calls for Nationwide Regulation Following Successful Labor Hire Scheme

COVID-19

North America

EMEA

APAC