Pay slip exposes big wage issue in Australia

Two men work similar hours in the same room of an abattoir in Queensland.

But one of them was paid about $500 less than the other over the course of a week.

The pay slips from two boners working at Australian Country Choice in Brisbane’s eastern suburbs in February exposes a divisive pay issue in Australia – the use of labour hire companies, which the federal opposition claims exploits casual workers, but the government says is crucial to business.

According to the pay slips, provided by Labor, one worker directly employed by the abattoir earned a gross payment of $1750.62 for working a week in February this year, or $1328.62 after tax.

He is paid for the work he completes rather than an hourly rate – although the pay slip calculates it with hours.

The other worker, employed by labour hire company, Task Labour Australia, received a gross salary of $1229.45 for the week, or $988.45 after tax, and did an extra four-hour shift on Saturday for overtime.

The first worker receives leave entitlements while the other one does not.

Shadow Industrial Relations Minister Tony Burke said the pay slips showed why things needed to change.

Last month Labor introduced a private members’ bill to ensure people get the “same pay for the same job” with regard to labour hire firms, which supply employees to other businesses on a fee or contract basis.

“The Morrison government reckons this is just a ‘made up issue’,” Mr Burke said.

“Well these pay slips prove just how out of touch the government is.

“Workers doing the same job should get the same pay, it’s that simple.”

But Task Labour Australia CEO Nathan Buckley said the pay comparison was not “comparing apples with apples” in this instance and there were different levels of seniority.

“The employee in question graduated through a series of higher pay rates after the date mentioned and then transitioned over to the host employer,” he said.

“Our job is to work with them on the chain and get these skilled workers trained up and hand them over to the site.

“In that instance that’s important because they are not a transient worker, they’re the kind of skilled people you want to hang on to.”

But he said labour hire played an important role in sourcing workers to fill periods of high demand, using a general example of Christmas when lots of people buy hams.

“But then there are the seasonal roles, especially in Covid its very difficult to find staff,” he said.

“We’re obsessed with doing the right thing, our whole business is built on integrity because that’s the new norm in the industry.”

He said they offered to audit salaries on a weekly basis to check that superannuation and other entitlements were being paid correctly.

Australian Country Choice said it was unable to comment on this individual matter due to privacy reasons.

A spokesman said that they ensured all labour hire providers were registered and met all employment obligations.

He said they needed some of their workforce to be flexible due to fluctuations in the market outside their control.

“We currently employ over 1100 staff across multiple operations throughout Queensland as part of our vertically integrated beef supply chain,” he said.

“The livestock and beef industry have a long history of being volatile, subjected to variable weather, currency fluctuations and livestock availability.

“Consumer preferences also means that our customer demands can vary markedly.”

When introducing the private members’ bill last month, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said that many labour hire firms operated fairly and existed for good reason.

But he said there were some out there that were “unscrupulous”.

“We will legislate to ensure that workers employed through a labour hire company will not receive less pay than workers employed directly,” he said.

“The use of temporary labour hire to help employers manage increased demand during surge periods or replace absent workers has been around for decades. This bill will not disturb that business model,” he said.

“But this new business model that has been adopted under this government has distorted the labour market and undermined enterprise bargaining.

“We will crack down on companies trying to circumvent their obligations to pay their workers directly.”

Industrial Relations Minister Senator Michaelia Cash said she believed Australians were “sick and tired” of Mr Albanese “demonising” those working in labour hire.

Mr Albanese’s proposed law would strip labour hire workers of (being able to) negotiate their own pay and conditions and discourage employment at a time when our nation is trying to recover from the pandemic,” she said.