Gippsland vegetable farm accused of underpaying migrant workers
Bulmer Farms in Lindenow is accused of underpaying workers in breach of the Fair Work Act. (ABC: David Claughton)
In short:
Bulmer Farms in eastern Victoria is accused of underpaying 28 migrant workers more than $645,000.
The Fair Work Ombudsman alleges that the workers were paid for a 38-hour week, regardless of how many hours they worked.
What's next?
The company will face the Federal Circuit and Family Court in January, 2026.
An eastern Victorian vegetable farm will face court early next year accused of underpaying 28 migrant workers more than $645,000.
Bulmers Farms produces lettuce, spinach and broccoli at Lindenow in East Gippsland, about three hours east of Melbourne.
The company is owned by Bill Bulmer, the Victorian chair of the peak industry body, Ausveg.
Founded in 1989, it employs 120 people during peak periods.
The Fair Work Ombudsman alleges the company breached the Fair Work Act by paying workers a set weekly amount based on annual salaries, regardless of the number of hours they worked.
The workers from Kiribati, Timor Leste and the Solomon Islands were hired under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme and worked in a range of roles, including as farm workers, forklift drivers and tractor operators.
The ombudsman said individual workers were underpaid amounts ranging between $1,500 and $39,000.
The underpayments allegedly occurred between December 2019 and December 2023.
The ombudsman says the workers were paid between $884 and $1,105 per week for a 38-hour week, but more than half the time were required to work additional hours.
This allegedly resulted in the workers being underpaid their minimum hourly rates, overtime rates and for public holiday work.
The ombudsman says that in 7 per cent of cases, the workers were required to put in more than 50 hours a week.
The company is also said to have made unlawful deductions from the workers' pay for airfares, accommodation and health insurance.
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth says workers must be paid for every hour they work. (ABC News: Billy Cooper)
Underpayment unacceptable, ombudsman says
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said charges were warranted because of the scale of the underpayments.
"The alleged underpayments of migrant workers by Bulmer Farms across four years was entirely unacceptable, and we will be pursuing penalties to hold the company to account," Ms Booth said.
"Employees must be paid for every hour they work. We've been calling this issue out for years — the law demands that workers are paid for the actual hours they work and employers cannot rely on default annualised salary-based payments if they have not factored in all entitlements for any extra hours worked."
The ombudsman's investigation also uncovered alleged breaches of record-keeping and payslip laws.
Bulmer Farms is facing multiple breaches of the Fair Work Act, with each breach attracting fines of up to $93,900.
The company will face the Federal Circuit and Family Court in Melbourne for a directions hearing on January 21, 2026.
Andrew Bulmer from Bulmers Farms says the company did not intentionally underpay workers. (ABC News: Marty McCarthy)
'Genuine mistakes'
Bulmers Farms today said it was working with the ombudsman to "rectify unintentional underpayments and deductions" made to the 28 employees.
In a statement, the company said it had engaged an independent third party to help it quantify and confirm the exact amount owed to the workers.
"We expect this process to be completed by late January or early February 2026," Bulmer Farms managing director Andrew Bulmer said.
Fifteen of the affected workers are still employed at Bulmers Farms.
The company has employed workers under the PALM scheme for more than a decade and is an approved employer.
"This is the first time any concern has been raised about our participation in the PALM scheme," Mr Bulmer said.
"The underpayments and deductions errors identified were totally unintentional and completely out of step with our company values.
"There were genuine mistakes, not intentional decisions and we are correcting them."
Uniting Church social justice advocate Mark Zirnsak says the ombudsman's action sends a message to employers. (Supplied: Uniting Church in Australia)
Hard for workers to speak up, campaigner says
Uniting Church social justice advocate Mark Zirnsak welcomed the charges.
"This kind of strong action by the Fair Work Ombudsman is necessary to make sure employers understand they can't rip off workers and get away with it," he said.
Mr Zirnsak said migrant workers were vulnerable and it was hard for them to speak up when they were not paid or treated properly.
"In some cases, they may fear retaliation, so they end up not pursuing cases."
He is keen to see changes to the way the PALM program is run to provide more support for workers.
"[Allow] workers to get that guarantee of being able to return to another employer should they raise something that is found to be a legitimate allegation," he said.
Ausveg says chairman not actively involved in company
Ausveg acknowledged the Fair Work Ombudsman's proceedings against Bulmer Farms.
"AUSVEG notes that its Chairman Bill Bulmer has not been actively involved in operational aspects of the Bulmer Farms business for close to a decade," a spokesperson said in a statement.
"As legal proceedings have commenced, AUSVEG cannot comment on the specific matter."
The spokesperson said Ausveg had been and remained a "a tireless advocate for grower and worker wellbeing".