BHP ordered to increase pay for over 2,000 labour hire workers in Queensland
Australia’s Fair Work Commission has ordered mining company BHP to pay over 2,000 of its labour hire workers in Central Queensland thousands of dollars more, in a significant test of the federal government’s ‘Same Job, Same Pay’ laws, as per a report in ABC News. The ruling, which will see affected workers receive an average of $30,000 more, is the first major application of the Fair Work Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Act 2023. This legislation was designed to ensure that workers hired through agencies are paid no less than a company’s direct employees performing the same role. The decision by the national workplace relations tribunal sets a major precedent for other companies that utilize labour hire arrangements.