Unpaid wages left celery farm migrant workers 'frightened', Ombudsman says

ABC Rural
Sep 17 2024

Celery plants growing in a vegetable garden.


In short:
Australia's largest celery producer has been fined for withholding migrant workers' wages.

One worker was paid for just 10 weeks out of 52 weeks' work.

What's next?
Intentional underpayments by employers will become a criminal offence under the Fair Work Act from January 1.


Australia's largest celery producer has been fined more than $150,000 after "deliberately" underpaying the migrant workers who planted and picked the popular vegetable.

The Federal Court on Friday found the farm on the Mornington Peninsula, south of Melbourne, failed to pay workers minimum wage, casual loading, overtime or public holiday pay between February 2020 and February 2021.

One farm hand was only paid for 10 weeks out of 52 weeks of work.

The Federal Court found A & G Lamattina & Sons withheld 30 weeks' salary from another worker, while a third was only paid for eight of 41 weeks of work. 

"This is ... at the extreme end of what we see," Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth told ABC Victorian Country Hour following the court proceeding.

"Can you imagine working for a year and only being paid 10 weeks' pay?

"To think that we're going to the supermarket, buying our celery, paying a decent price for it, and that workers who are picking it, packing it, cutting it are just not being paid at all ... [they] must have been so frightened."

Ms Booth said more than $90,000 was withheld from the three staff, who were temporary visa holders.

"We get told by migrant workers that they fear for losing their jobs, they fear for losing their visas, and they fear for the consequences for themselves and their families," she said.

"They're very vulnerable."

'Egregious' actions against workers
Lamattina's conduct was "egregious," Judge Karl Blake said in his judgement.

"It is difficult to think of a contravention of an award that is more serious than a complete failure to pay employees their wages," Mr Blake said.

"The [company]'s conduct was clearly deliberate and intentional."

The court found Lamattina breached the Fair Work Act and fined the company almost $167,000.

Lamattina rectified the underpayments in full in February 2023, the Ombudsman said.

The ABC has contacted Lamattina for comment.

Breaches to become criminal offences
Despite an ongoing focus on workers' rights and compliance across industry, Ms Booth said cases continued to be uncovered.

"Sadly, it doesn't surprise me, but it still saddens me," she said.

"Agriculture is a priority area for the Fair Work Ombudsman and we've had a number of agricultural cases — not exactly like this, but in the same area."

Intentional underpayment of wages by employers is currently a civil offence but will become a criminal offence with higher maximum penalties from January 1, as part of changes to workplace laws.

"Employers need to be very mindful of any intention that they form to deliberately thwart the law and underpay workers — it's going to be treated quite differently," Ms Booth said.