Camila arrived in Australia in April last year and, in June, she accepted a job as an Au Pair to work for an Australian family. She should look after two children, but she also did house work outside her agreed working hours.
“When you are an Au Pair, you are responsible for the children only, but I was cleaning the house with the kids around. I wanted to study, but the children were always entering my room, which had no lock. I was not able to study”.
Her English was basic, so the student thought she had found a good job opportunity when she arrived. However, she says the work became ‘slavery’.
“They were paying a lot less than the award amount per hour in Australia. The minimum for this type of work should be AU$ 23, but they were paying me AU$8. I had food and accommodation, so they justified it like that. But, after some time, it became slavery”.
Camila’s situation is not unique. More than half of Brazilian students are paid less than the official minimum wage of AU$ 18.29 per hour, according to the national research "Wage Theft in Australia", the largest report ever done on work force exploitation of backpackers and international students, with temporary visas.
Vítor was also paid less than the minimum wage.
“They paid below the minimum wage at the time: AU$ 14 for kitchen hands and AU$ 15 for waitresses”.
All students were paid cash-in-hand in the past. According to the report, cash payments may mean tax evasion.
"We worked more than 30 hours, but they declared 20 hours on tax and they paid the rest in cash. When they sent it to the Taxation Office, it seemed it was all right. Many workers only got cash payments”, says Vítor.
“They paid cash-in-hand. I never received (payment for) extra-hours or anything like it. It was an informal agreement. They invited me to work for them and I said yes”, says Camila.
“She (my boss) also paid AU$15 per hour, cash-in-hand; but we worked nine hours sitting in the same position pricing products”, says Joana.
Fraud is also common if you use an Australian Business Number (ABN), according to Ana, especially in cleaning jobs.
“What they do... We don’t declare the amount of hours we worked, only the payment received. As you need to cash up quickly, you accept it because, if you don’t, someone else will. I can’t declare the number of hours, only the total, so it seems I get AU$ 36 per hour”. She actually works around 45 hours, instead of the legal limit of 20 hours per week.
Working more than 20 hours is common amongst the students, but they say they have no option.
“We worked nine hours per day, every day, from Monday to Friday, from 7am to 4pm. Most cleaners are students. They (the bosses) ask us to work and, if you don’t accept it, they may not call you again”, says Ana.
“I worked eight to nine hours per day, three days per week. They determine our working hours because the job needs to be done”, says Joana.
“They wanted me to work much more than the legal limit”, says Camila.
The students say that exploitation is common practice among employers. According to the Brazilians, companies are trying to avoid tax payments.
The students also say they cannot denounce these companies because there is no contract or legal proof that they worked. They say they accept these types of jobs as a matter of survival.
Do arquivo da SBS Português:
Austrália: Exploração de estudantes vietnamitas a um passo da escravidão moderna
