Luxury Blue Mountains hotel group clawing back wages from migrant workers

Source: Sun Morning Herald, 15/07/2019

The Escarpment Group owns Lilianfels and Echoes in Katumbi, the
Hydro Majestic in Medlow Bath, the Parklands Country Garden and
Lodges in Blackheath and the Convent Hunter Valley. The Fair Work
Ombudsman (FWO) raided the group’s operations in Katoomba and the
Hunter Valley last month.
The Convent Hunter Valley was raided last month. Top right: the
sleeping quarters, top left, hours worked.
A 14-month Sun-Herald investigation has found the Escarpment Group
forces workers on 407 Training Visas to return $480 out of their
wages each week to their employer for a shared bedroom and meals
that are not always provided. Employees are also not paid for up
to three hours of overtime they work each day.
The migrant staff who worked at the group’s properties said these
conditions made them feel like “prisoners”. Most workers
interviewed by The Sun-Herald did not want to be identified
because they feared reprisals. One said: “For me I am in a first
world country working in third world [conditions].”
The Sun-Herald investigation found the compulsory room and board
charge is automatically deducted from staff wages and is $60 more
than the workers would pay to rent an entire house in the same
Katoomba/Blackheath area. The so-called interns are also asked to
sign time sheets that record 38 hours of work a week instead of
the up to 50 hours they actually work. The 12 hours of unpaid
overtime are recorded on a second set of handwritten time sheets
and rosters.
Former hotel staff, Awindam Biswas describes how he was exploited
by the hotel chain he worked for.
The Escarpment Group denied `underpaying or exploiting` any of its
employees or interns, including those on 407 visas. It said it was
being investigated by the Department of Home Affairs and Fair
Work.
`Escarpment Group is co-operating with that investigation and
believes that it has acted in accordance with the applicable
industrial laws,` a company statement said. `The investigation is
continuing, therefore it would be inappropriate to make any
further comment at this time.`
The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) also refused to comment on its
ongoing investigation. The Department of Home Affairs referred
inquiries to Australian Border Force, which said it could not
comment as the matter was part of an ongoing investigation.
However, a Home Affairs spokesperson said 407 visa holders have
the same rights under workplace law as Australian citizens and it
“takes any allegations of misuse of a visa or exploitation of a
visa holder seriously”.
Professor Allan Fels who chaired the Migrant Workers` Taskforce,
which reported to the Morrison government in February, said The
Sun-Herald investigation revealed the practice of underpayment `is
still pervasive`. He said the government had adopted all his
recommendations including jail sentences for serious wage theft,
but `speedy implementation` was now needed.
Professor Fels said the hotel group`s conduct was `an important
example` that showed exploitation was not confined to foreign
students and working holidaymakers who were the subjects of his
inquiry.
`It covers other categories of temporary migrant workers,` he
said. `It looks to be highly exploitative, highly calculated and a
deliberate attempt to break the law.”
The Sun-Herald interviewed nine Escarpment Group hotel workers in
Katoomba and examined the employment records of seven on the 407
Training Visa including copies of their pay slips and time sheets
which recorded 7.3 hours of paid work per day and 38 hours a week.
Signed handwritten time sheets and rosters showed they worked up
to 11 hours a day.
Promise of training with luxury hotel group entraps visa workers
Australian citizens who worked at the hotel said they were paid
properly but were concerned their co-workers on training visas
being underpaid and forced to live in overpriced accommodation.
Payslips The Sun-Herald has seen record 76 hours of work per
fortnight and do not record the automatic $960 fortnightly
deduction for rent. This charge only shows up on their bank
statements. Pay slips from last year show the $960 deduction.
After the rent is taken out of their wages, the interns are left
with a net salary of about $16,000 plus $5000 in superannuation -
about $300 in their pocket each week.
Employment lawyer Sharmilla Bargon from the Redfern Legal Centre
said employers have a legal obligation to keep accurate time
sheets and wage records, and payslips that reflect the total
number of hours worked. She said an employer should not generally
take money out of an employee’s wages, but if they did, the amount
`should absolutely be recorded on the employee’s payslip`.
`If this amount isn’t recorded, the employer may have contravened
employment laws,” she said.
The Sun-Herald first contacted FWO about the Escarpment Group of
hotels in March alerting it to allegations that visa workers were
forced to live in overpriced accommodation, but it had nothing to
report. Then, last month, it confirmed it was investigating the
group and had audited its hotels in Katoomba and the Hunter
Valley. It refused to comment further on the investigation.
The Sun-Herald can reveal the FWO has been contacted by at least
two of the hotel workers who have evidence of pay slips, rosters,
bank records and two sets of time sheets, one with correct times
and the other with false times. The workers said they were told to
call Legal Aid instead. Legal Aid then provided forms to send to
the Fair Work Ombudsman.
`Their advice wasn`t very helpful and they did not understand our
situation. That was very disappointing,` one said.
The Fels report noted the FWO needed to have a stronger profile
with migrant workers and a `stronger enforcement response`.
While Australian workers might experience underpayment, Professor
Fels said they `are not typically exploited over accommodation`.
`The foreign worker coming here is much more exploitable because
of their lack of personal supports, their non-access to
accommodation, their poor knowledge of the law, the unlikelihood
they will report the offender for fear of losing their working
rights,` he said.