An approved employer on Australia's Pacific Seasonal Work Scheme says it has learnt valuable lessons about selecting workers after a recent dispute involving a group from Vanuatu.
32 horticultural workers on the pilot scheme left before completing their contracts with a grower in the state of Victoria, prompting an audit of the agency, Connect Group, by Fair Work Australia.
The agency's Managing Director, Michael Fryszer, says the incident is a one-off but it all adds to the "how-to-do" manual which his firm, as a pioneer on the scheme, has had to write.
"We've been working quite strongly with the Department of Labour in Vanuatu, perfecting the systems, the level of information that is supplied to people, but also looking far more critically at the people selection criteria."
Michael Fryszer of Connect Group
