I had a meeting yesterday evening with a reasonably scared young individual who is sponsored on a TSS 482 visa. The reason was… they are being paid less money than their visa approval from the Department of Home Affairs states, for the same hours. Since this is potentially a breach of the conditions attached to their visa, they did not know what to do…
If you are on a TSS 482 visa, there are some strict rules even in these COVID times that you and more importantly, your sponsor/employer must adhere to:
- If you are working 38 hours a week or more, your employer should pay you your full salary as stated in your visa approval from the Department of Home Affairs.
- If you have been ‘Stood Down,’ e.g. they have no work for you; they do not have to pay you, and they should not be claiming any Job Keeper, as Job Keeper is only for citizens and permanent residents of Australia. They should inform the department that you have been stood down*.
- If you are working fewer days or hours, then your employer should still pay you for the hours/days pro-rata to your yearly salary*
- They have to (by law) pay your super and also pay the correct tax for you and provide you with a payslip on every pay.
*e.g. if you earn 100k per year and if you are now only working for three days a week, your sponsoring company/employer should pay you the equivalent of your yearly salary pro-rata: 100/5days x 3days = 60k per year.
*POINT 2 and 3 above are only allowed in COVID times. Any other time, your employer should always pay you your full salary. Part-time work and standing down of employees is not permitted on TSS visas in normal circumstances.
Also, the individual mentioned that they had not had their super paid and also not received a proper payslip, so there was some concern over their tax being paid inappropriately as well.
All sponsoring companies must pay your super at all times and also provide you with a payslip every pay which shows the tax paid and the super paid. If you have concerns regarding your super, please contact your super fund and discuss it with them. If you have concerns over your tax being paid correctly, please contact the tax office or talk to an accountant.
If you have concerns over the way you are being treated whilst on the visa, e.g.
- Not being paid correctly or
- Being made to work longer hours than you are paid for
- or generally being threatened, or bullied.
Please contact Fair Work about your situation, talk to a representative of the Union for your industry and also discuss the problem with a qualified migration agent so they can advise you about the implications on your visa, and perhaps offer you some other visa options.
All people working in Australia, including those from overseas, have rights and protections at work. These cannot be taken away by contracts or agreements. Your employer has also additional obligations as a sponsor that they must abide by.
They do Your employer does not control you or your visa; they are only your sponsor – if you want to leave them, you can; if you want to change jobs, you just have to make sure you have the right advice before you do this.
If you are not being treated fairly, you can talk to any of the authorities mentioned above and your sponsor cannot do anything about it. You are within your own rights to do this.
They do not have the power to have you removed from the country.
If you or anyone you know is in this situation at the moment or has any other immigration visa questions around the visa rules or employment rules around TSS 482/457 visa, please do not hesitate to contact us or reach us at [email protected]…
Visa workers have rights too…
