100 signatures reached
To: Premier Chris Minns MP, The Hon. Sophie Cotsis MP, Minister for Industrial Relations and Work Health and Safety
Fairer Rules for Fairer Work: Legislate NSW Labour Hire Licensing
Everyone deserves to be paid fairly, treated with dignity and protected from exploitation at work.
No worker should have to rely on luck to avoid wage theft, unsafe conditions or exploitation. Strong laws and effective enforcement should protect every worker, regardless of where they work or where they come from.
Yet NSW remains the only state on Australia's east coast without a labour hire licensing scheme.
This has left NSW as an attractive destination for rogue labour hire operators who rip off workers, break workplace laws, avoid their obligations and undercut businesses that are doing the right thing.
Why is this important?
This is not about the businesses who are trying to do the right thing. It’s about making the playing field level so that good businesses aren’t being undercut by bad faith actors operating in these spaces.
Too often, these operators profit through wage theft, sham contracting, phoenixing and other forms of exploitation, leaving workers out of pocket while honest employers struggle to compete against businesses that cut corners and ignore the law.
Labour hire licensing is a proven reform that helps stop dodgy operators from entering the market and holds providers accountable when they fail to meet their obligations. A licensing scheme creates a fairer playing field by ensuring labour hire providers meet minimum standards and comply with workplace, taxation and safety laws.
It also helps crack down on tax avoidance and phoenixing, protecting public revenue and ensuring businesses contribute their fair share to the services and infrastructure we all rely on.
Honest labour hire providers, employers and workers all benefit when everyone is required to meet the same standards and compete on a level playing field.
We, the undersigned, call on the NSW Government to introduce a comprehensive labour hire licensing scheme that ensures every labour hire provider is licensed, accountable and playing by the same rules.
No licence. No labour hire.