Drought, hailstorms and high winds are just some of the challenges Australia's stone fruit growers have had to battle this season.

And if national consumer demand does not increase, many growers might have to sell their fresh produce without making a profit.

Stone fruit grower Michael Trautwein grows the full range of stone fruit on their 80-hectare orchards in the Riverland, South Australia, and said high winds caused severe damage to apricots and wind rub on nectarines and peaches. Read more of this ABC Article.........

Through new machinery used in sorting and packaging, Chilean fruit growers are better equipped to compete in the Chinese market by enforcing standardization of products. The technology not only automates and perfects the packaging process, but also separates fruit by color, size, export destination and more.

The ability to use technology in the process is indispensable, said Michael Grasty, president of David del Curto, a leading fruit exporting company. The company this week celebrated 65th anniversary in the industry, with the last 15 years exporting to China. "The fruit market is nothing like what it was 65 years ago," Grasty said. Read more of this Fruit Plaza article. 

Labour hire – what growers need to know

(Source: Fairwork Ombudsman)

Engaging labourers through a third party contractor can seem like an easy option. However, there are risks that growers need to manage.

Contracting out labour for a very low price may result in employees throughout the supply chain missing out on basic rights like minimum wages, penalties, loadings, overtime, allowances and leave.

It may also mean the contractor is engaging in sham contracting arrangements with sub contractors to avoid their legal responsibilities as an employer.

If the price of a proposed contract seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Why should growers care about what happens in their supply chain?

Choosing the contractor who offers the lowest price without looking more closely and asking questions about how they can offer such low prices can:

• damage a business’s reputation and the reputation of a whole growing region
• expose growers to financial penalties if workplace laws are breached.

We are relying on growers and their communities to help us uncover rogue contractors and make sure they are following Australian workplace laws. Contact us to report rogue contractors.

For information about why you should manage your labour contracting, and tips and tools to help you, visit our Contracting labour and supply chains section.

Labour hire checklist

Ask a potential labour hire contractor:

• What is your ABN?
• How are you hiring your workers?
  • If they are engaging employees by the piece, make sure they have written agreements in place.
  • Will you give them a Fair Work Information Statement?
• How are you going to pay your employees?
  • How much?
  • How often?
  • Will you give them pay slips?
  • Do you know which award will cover them?

Growers should make sure they have a written contract with their labour hire contractor outlining what is expected of the contractor, in particular that they will employ employees in line with Australian workplace laws.

You should also check any state requirements as some states have laws where labour hire providers are required to have an appropriate licence. Read about state Labour hire licensing laws in our Library to find out if they apply to you.

Find out more about sham contracting laws on our Independent contractors page.

Harvest Trail Report 

The Fairwork Ombudsman have recently released a Harvest Trail Inquiry report, which details the results of our review of workplace arrangements on the Harvest Trail. The report was started in response to employee and community concerns that the FWO had received about non-compliance with Australian workplace laws.  

FWO looked at issues such as:

• minimum wages and conditions, including piece rates
• record keeping and pay slips
• labour hire and supply chain issues.

Some of the discoveries that were made during the Harvest Trail Inquiry include:

• misuse of piece rates
• a negative impact where labour hire arrangements were used illegally
• low consumer awareness and unwillingness to pay more for ‘domestic fair trade’ produce contributes to exploitation.

See below to download the Harvest Trail Report