New regulations around Labour Hire organisations

Recent media reports have outlined Queensland’s new mandatory labour hire licensing laws and the associated Labour Hire Licensing Scheme.

Labour hire providers are now required to be licensed in Queensland and businesses who need to hire labour must only use licensed providers.

All labour hire providers operating in Queensland need to be licensed under the scheme – including those based interstate or overseas who supply workers in Queensland.

To obtain a licence, a labour hire provider must demonstrate that they are fit and proper to provide these services, can comply with relevant state and Commonwealth laws and that their business is financially viable.

Existing labour hire providers were given until 15 June 2018 to apply for a licence and can continue to operate while their application is being processed.

Individuals and organisations that provide labour hire services in Queensland without a licence may face jail time, a hefty fine or license cancellation.

CPA Group has lodged its application and is awaiting confirmation.

CPA Group Executive Chairman, Harley Sparke has reviewed the new laws and comments: “We are advising our clients to ensure that they are aware of the new regime. It is our belief that companies who outsource their security, medical or emergency services are exposed if contracting labour hire organisations (as defined under the new laws) who have not lodged their application.

 Our best advice indicates that companies like CPA Group and its competitors, as well as many clients in the resources, maritime and critical infrastructure industries need to be aware of the new regime and understand the potential exposure of subcontracting to unregistered labour hire organisations.

 A quick review of the government website indicates some companies who fall under the definition in the new laws have not applied and are non-compliant with the new legislation.

We encourage companies to check – the site to review is www.labourhire.qld.gov.au where all companies who are registered or who have applied can be confirmed”

 

Note: Excerpt from the above website:

The pending applications list should not be confused with the register of licensed labour hire providers. The presence of a business on the list of pending applications does not guarantee that the application will be successful and that the business will ultimately receive a labour hire licence. It is an offence to use an unlicensed labour hire provider for labour hire services.

Applications in green have been made prior to 15 June 2018. After 15 June 2018 you can continue to use a labour hire provider shown in green until a decision is made and the application is removed from this list. If you continue to use this labour hire provider for labour hire services once their application has been removed it is your responsibility to ensure that the labour hire provider has been granted a licence by checking the register of licences.

If an application is shown in grey it has been made after 15 June 2018 and you should not engage this labour hire provider to provide labour hire services until they have been granted a licence and appear on the register of licences.