I became aware of this form of wage theft about 5 years ago when an overseas chef was being paid for a 38 hour week but working 60-80 hours a week. It was a big name hotel in Ballarat. I highlighted this in post 6
Gippsland vegetable farm accused of underpaying migrant workers
38m ago38 minutes ago
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Bulmer Farms in Lindenow is accused of underpaying workers in breach of the Fair Work Act. (ABC: David Claughton)
In short:
Bulmer Farms in eastern Victoria is accused of underpaying 28 migrant workers more than $645,000.
The Fair Work Ombudsman alleges that the workers were paid for a 38-hour week, regardless of how many hours they worked.
What’s next?
The company will face the Federal Circuit and Family Court in January, 2026.
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An eastern Victorian vegetable farm will face court early next year accused of underpaying 28 migrant workers more than $645,000.
Bulmers Farms produces lettuce, spinach and broccoli at Lindenow in East Gippsland, about three hours east of Melbourne.
The company is owned by Bill Bulmer, the Victorian chair of the peak industry body, Ausveg.
The Fair Work Ombudsman alleges the company breached the Fair Work Act by paying workers a set weekly amount based on annual salaries, regardless of the number of hours they worked.
The workers from Kiribati, Timor Leste and the Solomon Islands were hired under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme and worked in a range of roles, including as farm workers, forklift drivers and tractor operators.
The ombudsman said individual workers were underpaid amounts ranging between $1,500 and $39,000.
The underpayments allegedly occurred between December 2019 and December 2023.
The ombudsman says the workers were paid between $884 and $1,105 per week for a 38-hour week, but more than half the time were required to work additional hours.
This allegedly resulted in the workers being underpaid their minimum hourly rates, overtime rates and for public holiday work.
The ombudsman says that in 7 per cent of cases, the workers were required to put in more than 50 hours a week.
The company is also said to have made unlawful deductions from the workers’ pay for airfares, accommodation and health insurance.
