Understanding Your Obligations
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How the department can help you avoid penalties
The safest, easiest and quickest way to avoid penalties under the new offences is to check the work entitlements of all prospective workers. The following documents may be used as guides for checking the work entitlements of your workers.
See:
Work entitlement checklist (202KB PDF file)
Quick reference guide to checking work entitlements (210KB PDF file)
Poster: Do your employees have a valid visa to work in Australia? (199KB PDF file)
If you have made the business decision not to check every new worker, at a minimum you should conduct a check if:
- your business operates in an industry where the department locates a large number of illegal workers such as the hospitality, agriculture, manufacturing, construction, transportation, retail or sex industries; and
- you have already been given a warning notice for employing or referring an illegal worker; and
- you have information which suggests there is a possibility that a prospective employee could be an illegal worker.
You can check work entitlements online through the department’s Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) system or by using the Visa Entitlement Verification Faxback service.
See:
VEVO system
Who Can You Employ
Frequently Asked Questions and Scenarios are also available.
See:
Frequently Asked Questions
Recruitment Scenarios
Possibility of a prospective employee being an illegal worker
Not all visas allow a person to work in Australia.
The possibility of a prospective employee being an illegal worker will exist whenever there is information to suggest that the person might not be an Australian citizen.
This could include situations where a job applicant:
- mentions they are only visiting Australia
- presents a foreign passport
- provides overseas qualifications
- refuses to provide any documentary evidence to support a claim of Australian citizenship.
If a job applicant refuses to cooperate with the check, you should explain that you will not be able to employ them until their work entitlement can be verified.
How much time do I have to check work entitlements?
You should check if a person has a valid visa and is entitled to work in Australia before you employ them.
However, if you do not have immediate access to the Internet or a fax machine to check a job applicant’s work entitlements, you have 48 hours to check.
Providing the checks are initiated within 48 hours of an employee starting work and you do not actually know the person is an illegal worker, you will not be referred for prosecution.
If you discover an employee is an illegal worker you must end your working relationship with the person immediately. You will also need proof of the employee's start date to get the benefit of the flexible 48-hour checking period.
Examples of businesses and industries that may be able to make use of the flexible 48-hour checking period are farmers during harvest time and builders in the construction industry where large numbers of workers are employed on-site.
Avoiding discrimination
It is important not to single out particular applicants for visa entitlement checking based simply on their appearance or accent.
In a multicultural society such as Australia these are not indicators that a person does not have work entitlements.
The easiest way to avoid discrimination and ensure everyone is treated equally is to check the work entitlements of all prospective workers.
Warnings for first-time offenders
Most first-time offenders will be given a warning notice rather than being referred for prosecution.
The exceptions would be where:
- an employer actually knew the worker was working illegally; or
- the illegal worker is being exploited; or
- the employer or labour supplier is involved in an organised employment racket.
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