Young workers' rights

Written by news.com.au

Tuesday, 14 August 2007

Allegations an actor in one of the Government's Work Choice ads underpaid his young workers reveals some of the traps employers can fall into.

After two young men came forward last week and claimed the actor owed them money from painting jobs they had done for him two years ago, the actor, Damien Richardson, said the two then 18-year-olds were sub-contractors, not employees, and that they had failed to give him their ABNs and proper invoices.

The Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry's workplace relations officer Peter Vitale said this debate created a timely opportunity to review the rules applicable when dealing with young people.

He said a person under the age of 18 can only be employed with the consent of a parent or guardian.

And just because they are minors they are not necessarily paid less than other workers, he said. Junior rates are applicable only under some awards, not all.

A person under the age of 18 cannot be hired as a subcontractor, Mr Vitale said, and must be employed as a conventional employee.

If a person is employed in a training position, Mr Vitale warned the employer cannot pay them reduced training wages unless they have a registered training agreement lodged with the relevant state authority.

He said when they turn 18, they are subject to the normal laws of employment, but he recommended keeping parents in the loop as they would more likely be the people an employer would have to deal with if there were any problems.

He said young people are more vulnerable than older workers so he recommended extra efforts be made to ensure that bullying or discrimination did not take place.

Mr Vitale also outlined a few points when it came to sub-contractors.

He said a person had to meet certain conditions to be called a sub-contractor.

These included the amount of control the hirer had over the sub-contractor's work, that the sub-contractor was indeed conducting their own business and paid their own expenses such as insurance and worker's compensation, and that they had used their own equipment.

Mr Vitale said if the status of a worker was changed from employee to sub-contractor so their pay could be reduced, the courts would easily see that as a "sham arrangement".

"You can be prosecuted and subject to penalties for hiring someone as a sub-contractor when they are really an employee," Mr Vitale said.

"The Workplace Ombudsman has recently prosecuted several employers on this ground."

He said an option employers could consider was hiring young people or trainees through group training companies, which acted as employers of apprentices and trainees, then hired them out for short periods of time.