Strong start for Queensland’s labour hire scheme

The Queensland Government’s new labour hire scheme has received more than 1,300 applications  in its first month of operation.

The sunshine state’s Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace said this early uptake showed that most labour hire operators were aware of their legal requirement to have a licence in Queensland and were ready ‘to get on with business’.

“Since the new laws started on 16 April 2018, we have received 1,373 applications from operators which hire out labour in Queensland, with more than 145 licences already approved to date,” Ms Grace said.

“I’m so pleased to see labour hire operators are getting on board with these new laws.

“Our new Labour Hire Licensing Act and labour hire licensing scheme are regulating a sector that has been left unregulated for too long.

“To get a licence, providers need to show – amongst other requirements – they are complying with all legal obligations and can pay their workers.

“The new laws respond to years of evidence of serious exploitation of workers in the labour hire industry, ranging from cases of wage theft to sexual harassment and systematic tax avoidance.

“These laws are good for workers and good for labour hire providers and other employers who are doing the right thing.”

Ms Grace said the Labour Hire Licensing Compliance Unit would be on the ground talking to providers and doing compliance checks from this week.

“Existing labour hire providers have until 15 June 2018 to apply for a licence and can continue to operate while their application is being processed,” she said.

Labour hire providers have described the online application as ‘easy’ and ‘user-friendly’.

Trident Trades and Labour Hire, based in Brisbane, is on track to be granted a licence by 31 May 2018, for example.

The firm’s Director, Barry Hockings, said the application process was straightforward, with plenty of information available online.

“Trident Trades and Labour Hire supports the implementation of the labour hire licence scheme,” Mr Hockings said.

“It’s great to see the Queensland Government taking a hard line against providers who aren’t doing the right thing by workers.”