Bulmer Farms, based in Victoria and a vegetable supplier to Coles, has had legal action commenced against it following allegations from a government department.
The prosecution is being lodged by the Fair Work Ombudsman, which is accusing the grower of underpaying 28 migrant workers more than $645,000. The investigation began after receiving a referral from the federal Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.
Workers from Kiribati, Timor Leste and the Solomon Islands were allegedly underpaid $645,567, including $8,964 in unlawful deductions from their wages.
“It is alleged that the main cause of the underpayment was Bulmer Farms paying the workers set weekly amounts based on annualised salaries, irrespective of the hours they worked, which failed to cover their entitlements under the Horticulture Award 2010 and 2020,” a spokesperson for the FWO said. These underpayments are said to have occurred between December 2019 and December 2023.
Bulmer Farms engaged workers through the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme, in roles ranging from farm workers to forklift operators and tractor drivers.
The spokesperson added: “It is alleged the workers were paid flat amounts ranging from $884 to $1105 per week for a 38-hour week, but more than half of the time were required to work more than 38 hours per week.
“In 7 per cent of cases, workers were allegedly required to work more than 50 hours per week.”
It is alleged that 40 per cent of the overall underpayment to workers related to entitlements to overtime rates. It is alleged that Bulmer Farms also underpaid various leave entitlements, public holiday pay, and minimum engagement pay, and made unlawful deductions from wages for airfares, accommodation, and health insurance.
Bulmer Farms is also accused of breaching record-keeping and payslip laws and of unlawfully requesting some workers to perform unreasonable hours in excess of 38 hours per week.
Anna Booth, from the FWO, said the alleged scale of the underpayment of vulnerable migrant workers meant litigation was appropriate.
“The alleged underpayments of migrant workers by Bulmer Farms across four years were entirely unacceptable, and we will be pursuing penalties to hold the company to account,” Booth said.
“Employees must be paid for every hour they work. We’ve been calling this issue out for years – the law demands that workers are paid for the actual hours they work and employers cannot rely on default annualised salary-based payments if they have not factored in all entitlements for any extra hours worked.”
The company faces penalties of up to $93,900 per breach. During the FWO’s investigation, Bulmer Farms conducted an internal review and made payments of $42,189 to the workers.
A hearing is listed in the Federal Circuit and Family Court in Melbourne on January 21. The FWO is also seeking court orders requiring the company to rectify the alleged underpayments in full, plus interest and superannuation.
