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Are You Ready for the New Victoria Labour Hire Licensing Scheme?

A new mandatory labour hire licensing scheme will soon apply to all labour hire providers operating in Victoria. The scheme comes into effect on 29th April 2019 with an enforcement date of 29th October 2019. Understanding how this legislation affects your business is important not only for Victorian labour hire providers, but also for labour hire users who have any workers operating in Victoria. So what do you need to do? Read on to learn the features and expectations of the new legislation and how you can remain compliant as either a provider or a user.
 
Why is a labour hire licensing scheme being introduced?
The licensing scheme has been developed to stop the exploitation and mistreatment of workers, support legitimate labour hire operators and protect users of labour hire organisations.  In April 2018 a similar scheme was introduced into Queensland.
 
What are the regulations labour hire providers need to comply with?
The laws will require labour hire providers to:

  • pass a fit-and-proper person test to establish that they comply with all relevant laws and that the business is financially viable;
  • comply with workplace laws including; taxation, superannuation, OH&S, workers’ compensation, migration laws and accommodation standards
  • provide annual reports to the regulator including; information on the number, type, industry, pay and conditions of workers supplied

 
What do businesses have to do when engaging labour hire workers in Victoria?

  • If you have workers in Victoria supplied by other businesses, check whether such arrangements would be considered ‘labour hire services’ under the new licensing scheme.
  • If you want to use labour hire workers in Victoria, you must only use a licensed provider. Penalties will apply if you use a provider who isn’t licensed.

 
What do Labour Hire Providers need to do when engaging labour hire workers in Victoria?

  • If you are classified a Labour Hire Provider under the scheme, you will need to apply for the licence before 29 October 2019.
  • There will be penalties for anyone who operates without a licence and penalties for businesses using unlicensed labour hire companies. If you are unsure as to whether you are classified a ‘Labour hire Provider’ under the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018, we urge you to seek independent legal advice to understand your obligations.

 
Key dates:

  • 29 April 2019: The Victoria licensing scheme will come into effect 29 April 2019.
  • 29 October 2019: The Government has provided 6 months, or until 29 October 2019 for labour hire businesses to apply online for the licence.
  • 30 October 2019: Labour Hire providers cannot operate without a licence from 30 October 2019. Users of Labour Hire Licence services must not use an unlicensed provider.

 
We encourage you to visit the Labour Hire Authority website for more information relating to the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018. They are offering information sessions on their Events page.
 
Want to learn more?
Classified as a ‘labour hire provider’ under this scheme, Entity Solutions will also be applying for the licence and complying with all regulatory reporting requirements. As an organisation at the forefront of workforce changes, we have been preparing for this upcoming legislation for some time; hosting a series of general information sessions in 2018 to help prepare affected businesses.
We will be holding another round of these popular general information sessions in July across capital cities to assist both labour hire providers and labour hire users in understanding their obligations before the October 29th deadline. Dates are to be announced shortly, so stay tuned.
 

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