Obligations of providers, agents and hosts - labour hire

Labour hire providers

Labour hire providers must provide the host with:

• their labour hire licence number
• their name and contact details
• the name and contact details of the responsible person for the licence.

Labour hire providers must provide each worker with:

• the Information notice for labour hire workers
  • each time a worker is supplied to a new host
  • when the circumstances on the notice change for an existing host - eg the pay rate changes
• a copy of the Fair Work Information Statement (FWIS).

The notice for workers has been translated into:

• Chinese - labour hire worker information notice (PDF 143KB)
• Dari - labour hire worker information notice (PDF 248KB)
• Khmer - labour hire worker information notice (PDF 189KB)
• Vietnamese - labour hire worker information notice (PDF 211KB).

Provide translated information to workers where appropriate.

Agents and intermediaries

Agent and intermediaries who source workers from a labour hire provider and then provide the workers to a host, must provide the host with the labour hire provider's:

• licence number
• name and contact details
• name and contact details of the responsible person for the licence.

Agents or intermediaries who are involved in the arrangement must ensure this information is passed along the chain to all parties involved, so that the host ultimately receives this information.

Hosts

When a business (the host) requests another business to supply them with workers, the host must ensure that the other business holds a current labour hire licence.

Penalties apply to the host if they use an unlicensed labour hire provider.

In the event that the host requests an agent or intermediary to provide them with workers, the host should expect the agent or intermediary to provide them with the details, and licence number, of the labour hire provider which the workers were sourced from.

Check for licensed labour hire providers on the CBS Public Register or email occupational@sa.gov.au.

Phoenixing

Phoenixing is where a business illegally shuts down to avoid paying debts, like superannuation and employee entitlements.

Phoenixing disadvantages employees and puts other businesses at a competitive disadvantage.

Labour hire providers and agents should report phoenix activity to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

Penalties

Significant penalties apply if you:

• provide labour hire services without being licensed
• use an unlicensed labour hire provider.

Penalties also apply if:

• a labour hire provider does not provide their licence particulars to a host or agent (whichever is applicable)
• an agent or intermediary does not pass on the licence particulars of the labour hire provider they have sourced the worker from, to another agent or intermediary or to the host (whichever is applicable).

Providers, agents (intermediaries) and hosts can be fined if these obligations are not met.