Fair Work Tool Assists Employers With Australian Visa Obligations
The Department of Home Affairs has worked with the Fair Work Ombudsman to help employers better understand and follow their workplace obligations with the P.A.C.T Tool.
Understanding Your Obligations
Many employers we talk to don’t fully understand their obligations when it comes to employing visa holders and the root of the problem always seems to be the complexity of the Australian migration program. Managing employees week to week is already time-consuming, with payroll calculations for leave or calculating penalty rates and allowances based on shift allocations. When adding the complexity of work limitations imposed by an employees visa it’s easy to miss something, leaving your business at risk.
The P.A.C.T. Tool
When delivering a VEVO result, The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) encourages employers to ensure they are compliant with all visa conditions. Thankfully, those unsure of the specifics can utilise the Pay and Conditions Tool, designed by the Fair Work Ombudsman with the assistance of the DHA the help employees and employers understand and follow Australian workplace laws.
The PACT Tool is made up of 4 calculators, including those that assist with pay-rate and shift calculations while factoring in the visa subclass of the specific employee. This can be of particular use for employers with a large number of Student visa holders or Working Holiday visa holders, who both carry visa conditions with work limitations.
Ensure You Remain Compliant
Checkworkrights notifies employers when an employees visa carries work rights limitations or if those limitations change. However, it is up to employers to ensure they are observing these limitations. The variety of the Australian migration system makes this difficult, and legal jargon like condition 8105 on a subclass 500 Student Visa or condition 8547 on a Working Holiday visa subclass 417 or subclass 462 only complicates matters.
Ensure you understand the requirements for ongoing employment of visa-holding workers with a comprehensive tool like PACT and regular VEVO checks.
