Hundreds of international students have learned they will not be compensated for lost wages after the Australian cleaning contractor they worked for went under – despite the fact their Australian colleagues will be covered by law. Critics are calling on the government to compensate the students. Hundreds of international students have learned that they will not be compensated for lost wages after the Australian cleaning contractor they worked for went under. This is despite the fact that their Australian colleagues will be covered under law.
When Swan Services declared bankruptcy last month, it had not paid its 2,500-strong work force for three weeks' work, amounting to some $1.6 million in wages – around $3,000 per worker. Employees earned low wages, between AUS$17 and $21 an hour for cleaning offices or shopping centres.
According to the cleaners union
United Voice, around half of Swan's workers were on student visas while others held foreign worker visas.
“All these workers are low paid and to lose a payday is a catastrophe"
While many were immediately rehired by companies that took on the the firm’s contracts, none will be entitled to compensation under the federal government's Fair Entitlements Guarantee scheme (FEG) – a taxpayer-backed fund which insures workers when their employers go out of business.
FEG only compensates workers who are Australian citizens and permanent residents.
“All these workers are low paid and to lose a payday is a catastrophe," Michael Crosby, national president of United Voice said. "These students haven’t got the money to pay for their food and bills before the incoming contractor provides them with their first pay of their pay cycle. So this really is very serious.”
Much of the criticism centres on why international workers are excluded from the FEG, despite the fact they pay tax on their earnings. Observers add that the employees have not only lost wages but workplace benefits such as accrued annual leave too.
''If they pay tax, they should be reaping the benefit of Commonwealth support,'' said Sebastian Hams of insolvency firm KordaMentha.
United Voice says that the FEG issue gives Australia a “really bad look overseas”, adding to negative press surrounding international student work conditions. A
report on Victoria's "retail cleaning" industry last year claimed that international students, which account for around half of all cleaning employees in the state, faced routine exploitation.
''If they pay tax, they should be reaping the benefit of Commonwealth support''
Common complaints included extreme workloads, underpayment and a culture of discrimination which made them less likely to complain. The report blamed the "highly competitive" retail cleaning industry in which firms cut labour costs to win contracts.
United Voice said it would lobby the Australian minister for employment and workplace relations, Bill Shorten, to change the criteria for accessing FEG. It says that if the government won’t change the law, it should make a grace payment to all the foreign workers affected.
“They are going to go back to their country and talk to their friends and family that they were ripped off," said Crosby. "That’s not our reputation. Our reputation is if you work hard you’re treated fairly.”
Hundreds of international students have learned that they will not be compensated for lost wages after the Australian cleaning contractor they worked for went under. This is despite the fact that their Australian colleagues will be covered under law.
When Swan Services declared bankruptcy last month, it had not paid its 2,500-strong work force for three weeks’ work, amounting to some $1.6 million in wages – around $3,000 per worker. Employees earned low wages, between AUS$17 and $21 an hour for cleaning offices or shopping centres.
According to the cleaners union United Voice, around half of Swan’s workers were on student visas while others held foreign worker visas.
“All these workers are low paid and to lose a payday is a catastrophe”
While many were immediately rehired by companies that took on the the firm’s contracts, none will be entitled to compensation under the federal government’s Fair Entitlements Guarantee scheme (FEG) – a taxpayer-backed fund which insures workers when their employers go out of business.
FEG only compensates workers who are Australian citizens and permanent residents.
“All these workers are low paid and to lose a payday is a catastrophe,” Michael Crosby, national president of United Voice said. “These students haven’t got the money to pay for their food and bills before the incoming contractor provides them with their first pay of their pay cycle. So this really is very serious.”
Much of the criticism centres on why international workers are excluded from the FEG, despite the fact they pay tax on their earnings. Observers add that the employees have not only lost wages but workplace benefits such as accrued annual leave too.
”If they pay tax, they should be reaping the benefit of Commonwealth support,” said Sebastian Hams of insolvency firm KordaMentha.
United Voice says that the FEG issue gives Australia a “really bad look overseas”, adding to negative press surrounding international student work conditions. A report on Victoria’s “retail cleaning” industry last year claimed that international students, which account for around half of all cleaning employees in the state, faced routine exploitation.
”If they pay tax, they should be reaping the benefit of Commonwealth support”
Common complaints included extreme workloads, underpayment and a culture of discrimination which made them less likely to complain. The report blamed the “highly competitive” retail cleaning industry in which firms cut labour costs to win contracts.
United Voice said it would lobby the Australian minister for employment and workplace relations, Bill Shorten, to change the criteria for accessing FEG. It says that if the government won’t change the law, it should make a grace payment to all the foreign workers affected.
“They are going to go back to their country and talk to their friends and family that they were ripped off,” said Crosby. “That’s not our reputation. Our reputation is if you work hard you’re treated fairly.”
