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Employer theft of temporary migrant workers’ wages in Australia: Why has the state failed to act?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Stephen Clibborn  and
Chris F Wright
Stephen Clibborn*
Affiliation:
The University of Sydney, Australia
Chris F Wright
Affiliation:
The University of Sydney, Australia
*
Stephen Clibborn, Discipline of Work and Organisational Studies, The University of Sydney Business School, The University of Sydney, Abercrombie Building (H70), Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Wage theft has emerged as a major problem for regulation of work in Australia. Yet, the state has done little to address the issue. In this context, this article considers why there has been recent growth in reported cases of underpayment of wages, particularly of temporary migrant workers, and why the state has failed to implement a strategy to adequately address this problem. The article examines the fragmented nature of employment regulation and visa categories constraining worker agency which, combined with widening avenues for temporary migration, have contributed to the underpayment problem. We also consider how conflicting imperatives of the state, business influence over the policy process and weak political incentives to address underpayment help to account for the state’s inaction.

Keywords

J58J61J81Enforcement of standardslow-paid workersmigrant workersregulationvulnerable workers
Type
Symposium Articles
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 29 , Issue 2: Symposium: Wage Theft and Minimum Labour Standards Enforcement Part 2 , June 2018 , pp. 207 - 227
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2018

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