Hire legally Protect your profits
Employer sanctions It is the responsibility of all Australian employers to employ, refer and contract legal workers. Employers face infringements or civil penalties if they allow illegal work regardless of whether they knew someone was an illegal worker. This includes workers who are sourced through a contractor or labour supplier.
Who are legal workers? Australian citizens, Australian permanent residents and New Zealand citizens are legal workers and have unlimited permission to work in Australia. Some visas have work limitations that may include not being able to work at all or only being able to work with a certain employer or a specific number of hours. An Australian visa holder who is not in breach of their visa conditions is also a legal worker. An illegal worker is a non-citizen who is working without a valid visa or working in breach of a visa condition. Not everyone who comes to Australia on a visa has permission to work.
What do employers need to do? The Department expects employers to check that all non-citizens working for them are legal workers. The type of work includes: paid and unpaid work if they are sourced directly or via a contractor, labour hire or referral company alternative arrangements that are common in the construction, taxi, hospitality, cleaning and sex industries.
An employer who is confident that their worker is an Australian citizen, permanent resident or New Zealand citizen would not need to conduct any checks on that worker if: the person has worked in Australia for five or more years (and the employer has no reason to believe this person is a foreign national) the person states that they were born in Australia and lived in Australia until at least 10 years old (and the employer has no reason to believe this is not true) the person provided information that their primary and further education was in Australia (and the employer has no reason to believe this person is a foreign national) the employer has personal knowledge that the person has lived in Australia for ten years or more (and the employer has no reason to believe this person is a foreign national).
If an employer is not sure if their worker is an Australian citizen, New Zealand citizen or permanent resident, a single check confirming citizenship or permanent residence at the time of employment is all that is required. This is relatively straight forward as most people have some form of government-issued photo identification proving their citizenship. For example, an Australian or New Zealand passport alone or a birth certificate together with government issued photo identification such as a driver s licence. For more information about further documentation employers can sight, see our Guide for Employers at www.border.gov.au/legalworkers.
Visa holders Employers who believe their worker is a foreign national must carry out further checks to confirm that person has a visa with permission to work. The preferred method of checking visa details is to use our free online service Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO). VEVO does not confirm a person s identity. Employers need to confirm identity by sighting identification documents and make sure these match the VEVO details.
Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) VEVO is a free online government service. Employers can register as a VEVO Organisation or ask their worker to use VEVO and email their visa details. The type of information available includes: the type of visa the person holds when the visa was granted and when it will expire if the person has unlimited right to work, no work right or work restrictions.
VEVO email function Visa holders can also use VEVO and email their visa details to their employer. The email is sent from the Department and a copy is sent to the visa holder. The email has a PDF attachment that is time and date stamped. This means that whoever receives the email will know that the details are correct at the time the VEVO check was done. Visa holders can also do this from the myvevo app on their mobile. Note: VEVO only informs visa holders if they are not allowed to work or if they have work limitations on their visa. If an employer receives a VEVO email and there are no work restrictions, the employer can be confident that person is a legal worker. Employers should keep copies of any VEVO checks as they can be used as evidence that reasonable steps have been taken to check that a non-citizen is allowed to work. For more information about VEVO, go www.border.gov.au/vevo
Using a contractor or labour hire company Employers are still responsible for hiring legal workers even if they use a contractor or labour supplier to source their workers. However, an employer can add a clause to their contract or specify in writing (an exchange of letters) that the supply of labour will include only legal workers. The contractor or labour supplier is then responsible for ensuring they do not supply illegal workers. The Department s website provides examples of suitable wording for: contract clauses exchange of letters.
More information The Department s website has more information about employing legal workers, including: a Guide for Employers fact sheet examples of employment scenarios and the reasonable steps that are required in these situations examples of contract clauses and letters of exchange. www.border.gov.au/legalworkers
Summary of penalties Infringement notice Maximum infringement (per illegal worker): $3240 fine for an individual* $16 200 fine for a body corporate* Note: If an infringement notice is disputed the matter may be resolved in civil court with exposure to the higher penalties. Civil penalty Maximum civil penalty (per illegal worker): $16 200 fine for an individual* $81 000 fine for a body corporate* *An example of an individual would be a sole trader; a body corporate would be a company.
Summary of penalties Criminal penalties Primary offences (per illegal worker): $21 600 fine and/or two years imprisonment for an individual* $108 000 fine for a body corporate* Aggravated offences (per illegal worker): $54 000 fine and/or five years imprisonment for an individual* $270 000 fine for a body corporate* *An example of an individual would be a sole trader; a body corporate would be a company
Report illegal work People with information relating to illegal work are encouraged to report it to the Department using the Immigration and Citizenship online report. www.border.gov.au/contactus