Many of you may have heard the term “labour hire licence” over the last couple of months, and you may have thought “what on earth is this?”. When it comes to legislation and any changes, it can be hard to understand what it means for you as an employee and/or an employer.

So, first things first, what is a labour hire licence?

Essentially the labour hire licence is an Act of Parliament that was introduced to protect temps, contractors and others from exploitation in the workforce. The scheme isn’t just targeted at protecting workers, it is also designed to protect employers from being associated with any illegal behaviours and potentially being at risk of a fine.

What is a host? What are my responsibilities as a host?

According to Labour Hire Authority:

“Labour hire hosts are people or organisations who run businesses such as plumbers, electricians, IT consultants, factories, farms, meat manufacturing establishments, meat processing establishments, poultry processing establishments, offices, warehouses and commercial stores or premises that use the services of labour hire providers to obtain labour for their enterprise. If you run a business and you use labour hire services to perform work in that business, you are a host.”

With the new licensing scheme which becomes effective as of 30 October 2019, each host must make sure that the labour hire provider/ agency they are using is a licenced provider or has applied for the licence and has not been rejected. Host employers MUST ensure that the provider that they are using is licenced (click here to check) , and if they are not, you will need to find an alternative provider. If you continue to use a provider that is not licenced, you could face fines of over $500,000.

Now, just because someone has a licence, it doesn’t mean that they will be licenced forever, so it’s important to monitor your providers and ensure they have a valid licence.

I’m a temp/contractor/casual, what about me?

If you are an individual that is paid through a labour hire company and are working with a host then you are classified as a labour hire worker. This whole scheme was designed to protect you , the worker, which means you can feel comfortable stepping into your next role knowing the labour provider/agency you are using has done their due diligence and is a registered provider.

It might seem like a lot of extra steps to take when employing a labour hire worker, but it means everything will be above board and that there will be no nasty surprises. It also means it will clean up the recruitment industry by eliminating rogue operators that are underpaying or taking advantage of labour hire workers.