Tradesmen paid less than $3 an hour

Chinese workers employed on temporary immigration visas were paid less than $3 an
hour while putting in 11-hour days and seven-day weeks, the national pay watchdog
says.
The office of the Fair Work Ombudsman has launched a Federal Court action against
Perth-based construction company Kentwood Industries Pty Ltd over what it says is
one of Australia's worst-ever cases of underpayment.
It is also prosecuting company director Jian Yang Zhang, of the Perth suburb of
Dianella, claiming he masterminded the scheme to employ the non-English workers for
a pittance.
Fair Work Ombudsman executive director Michael Campbell said five Chinese tradesmen
were underpaid almost $250,000 when they worked at sites in Perth, Kalgoorlie and
Melbourne.
Recruited on 457 visas, they allegedly worked up to 77 hours a week and were paid as
little as $7,500 for around nine months' work.
Mr Campbell said the ombudsman's office and the Department of Immigration started
investigating Kentwood and Zhang in February 2007 after one of the Chinese workers
complained about his pay and conditions.
He said investigations had revealed "a calculated campaign of exploitation" by Zhang
and Kentwood, with the qualified and experienced tradesmen working nine to 11 hours
a day, six to seven days a week.
Individual amounts paid to the workers ranged from $7,502 to $12,405, or less than
$3 an hour, for between nine and 14 months' work.
Mr Campbell said the group had been employed on residential construction projects in
Perth, a Chinese Garden of Remembrance in Kalgoorlie and a Chinese Temple at the
Springvale Cemetery in Melbourne.
Their jobs had included labouring and unloading work as well as carpentry, tiling,
bricklaying, plastering, rendering and welding.
The agency said in a statement: "Soon after the Fair Work Ombudsman first contacted
Kentwood, three of the workers were asked to enter Mr Zhang's vehicle separately and
sign a statement that they had worked no more than 40 hours a week.
"They refused.
"Regardless of hours worked, the Chinese employees received a monthly wage
equivalent to about $600 in their Chinese bank accounts.
"One worker did not receive his first pay for five months. Three others had to wait
three months before being paid.
"The workers paid up to $2,500 each to agents of Mr Zhang to secure jobs with
Kentwood and have their 457 visas arranged.
"A statement provided by solicitors for Kentwood and Mr Zhang claims deductions of
$18,360 to $21,090 per worker were made from their wages to cover accommodation,
food, utility, transport, management and visa application costs."
The Fair Work Ombudsman said as well as penalties against Kentwood and Mr Zhang, it
is seeking a court order for Kentwood to back-pay the individual tradesmen amounts
ranging from $28,000 to $69,000, plus interest.
Kentwood and Zhang are alleged to have committed 10 breaches of workplace law, with
each offence carrying a maximum penalty of $33,000.
The case is listed for mention on August 18.
The highest ever penalty achieved by the Fair Work Ombudsman was $288,000 earlier
this year, when a small Adelaide cleaning company Saya Pty Ltd was found to have
underpaid an 18-year-old woman and a newly-arrived Iraqi migrant.