In a landmark ruling by the Fair Work Commission, local fruit pickers — who are currently paid on a ‘piece rate’ — will be guaranteed a minimum wage of $25.41 an hour.
Piece rates are paid according to the amount of produce harvested by workers.In theory, it incentivises workers to work faster and harder, promising lucrative salaries for those who do.
But in practice, the Fair Work Commission found that such arrangements do not provide a ‘minimum safety net’ or base rate for workers, as specified under the current Horticulture Award.
The Commission last month ruled, unanimously, that:
‘‘The existing pieceworker provisions in the Horticulture Award are not fit for purpose. They do not provide a fair and relevant minimum safety net as required by the Act.’’
The result was initiated by a submission by the Australian Workers Union. Its secretary Dan Walton described the finding as being ‘‘among the great victories of our union’s 135 year history’’.
The AWU submission was instigated following multiple studies into the horticulture sector, which unveiled widespread wage theft.
Many of those disadvantaged by agricultural interests were migrant workers, who are overrepresented within the picking industry.
In 2017 the National Temporary Migrant Work Survey found that of the 4,322 surveyed migrant workers, 46 per cent earned less than $16 an hour, whilst 30 per cent were paid less than $12 an hour.
The survey included participants from a wide array of industries, though those in agriculture were by far the worst off, with 31 per cent earning less than $10 an hour and 15 per cent less than $5 an hour.
However, local stakeholders like Mowbray Farms general manager Marcus Diaco are concerned that the new law will only punish those who are ‘‘already playing by the rules’’, and drive up prices for Australian consumers.
‘‘There are bad stories in any industry, though I’d like to think there’s not many of these stories out there,’’ Mr Diaco said.
‘‘But if there are, who can say if those not already playing by the rules will take notice of the new ones?’’Mowbray Farms currently employs nine full time staff during picking season, but its picking team will fluctuate depending on need during harvest.
These pickers are paid based on individual ‘bin rates’ i.e how many bins of produce they can fill in a day.
The median picking rate is taken from a sample of pickers, and adjusted for different crops, and varieties.
‘‘Calculations are updated pretty often, at least a couple of times per season,” said Mr Diaco.
Pickers who achieve the median bin rate will earn roughly $28 or $29 an hour, including an additional 15 per cent loading fee.
But those that beat the median bin rate can often earn in excess of $1500 a week, or over $300 a day according to Mr Diaco
‘‘If you’re well and truly under the average then you’re not going to keep picking,’’ said Mr Diaco.
‘‘But with this new ruling you could come in and sleep under a tree for five or six hours and take home your pay at the end of the day.
‘‘It means we’re going to have to increase supervision levels to make sure the workers are actually there.
‘‘And that could mean more costs for the consumer.’’
Detractors of the new minimum wage requirements suggest that the Fair Work’s insistence on an income ‘safety net’ will disincentivise workers who would otherwise be penalised for not meeting their targets.
‘‘This new ruling won’t slow down the people that know the harder they work the more money they will make,’’ Mr Diaco said.
‘‘The incentive will still be there for those that want to earn above that wage.
‘‘It’s the lower end of workers that will get rewarded more for less.’’