The operators of KS Bennings & Sons blueberry farms at Australia’s Sandy Beach have been agreed to back pay A$46,082.31 to seasonal workers after a Fair Work investigation revealed the workers had been underpaid.
Australia’s Fair Work Ombudsman audited the group’s farms in March as part of its national 'Harvest Trail' project looking into labour in the horticulture industry.
The investigation found that 137 workers, mainly backpackers on 417 working holiday visas, were underpaid between July 2014 and January 2015, according to a Fair Work statement released 30 November.
The farm’s employers, Jusbinder Singh Benning, Tarlochan Singh Bennin, Balbir Kaur Benning and Amarjit Kaur Benning, have apologised and agreed to repay the outstanding wages. The workers were underpaid penalty rates and the employers were found to have failed to keep appropriate employment records.
On top of the repayments, the employers have signed an ‘Enforceable Undertaking’ with the Fair Work Ombudsman, which includes human resources training for managers, using an external accounting professional for workplace audits, sending written apologies to employees and donating A$5,000 to the Adele Residential Treatment Programme.
The Harvest Trail campaign began in 2013 to help employers and employees in Australia’s horticulture and viticulture industries to understand workers rights.
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