When John Vo gained Australian citizenship earlier this year, it was supposed to mark the start of a new chapter.
Instead, over the past few months, the 27-year-old has poured hours into trying to reclaim almost $1,600 in unpaid wages from less than a year’s work at the Hilton Double Tree in Hobart.
When he began working there last year, he was on a visa.
“Working in the hospitality [industry] is stress well enough and then you have to go home and looking through the paperwork and sending HR emails,” Mr Vo said.
John Vo has worked in hospitality for eight years. (Supplied)
In May, Mr Vo was contacted by his employer informing him an audit had identified he had been over-accumulating leave.
“That email came out of the blue … it didn’t match up,” he said.
After a back and forth with his employer, Mr Vo decided to engage the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO).
John was employed at the DoubleTree by Hilton, in Hobart. (Facebook: DoubleTree by Hilton Hobart)
In July, communications from the FWO seen by the ABC, told Mr Vo that his employer had agreed he was owed $1,596 for failing to pay him for seven public holidays that fell on his rostered days off.
In a statement, a Hilton spokesperson said after the company learnt of an error in public holiday entitlements, it corrected the issue “as quickly as possible” with the FWO.
“We remain dedicated to addressing team member concerns with transparency and care,” they said.
Mr Vo said he had since been repaid the outstanding amount.
“They [visa holders] just want that job security at the end of the day, just want to go to work, get paid what they deserve, and go home,” he said.Most visa holders ‘just put their head down’
Dr Bassina Farbenblum, the co-executive director of the Migrant Justice Institute, works with visa holders in various industries across the country.
She said “extremely” few migrant workers who were underpaid ever did anything about it.
“Primarily, they’re afraid of losing their visa and of losing their job, and that it’s just too hard to actually take action when they are underpaid,” she said.
Dr Bassina Farbenblum has called on the government to extend the pilot program to more people and more service providers. (ABC News)
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Last year, the institute authored a report titled ‘All Work, No Pay’, which found that without help, migrant workers find it difficult to identify legal entitlements, work out how much they are owed and raise the issue directly with the employer.
“For many, they really have no options other than to wait until they finish their job and at that point, they have to return home, they have no option to stay in Australia,” Dr Farbenblum said.
John Vo was working while on a visa for eight years. (Supplied)
Mr Vo said he knows firsthand the complexity of being a visa worker.
“Most people will just put their head down and keep working,” he said.
New protections for people on temporary visas
The federal government launched a pilot program of new visa protections in July last year.
Under the Workplace Justice Visa program, a visa holder can extend their stay to pursue workplace exploitation claims.
The government said the number of people who have applied or been granted one of these visas is not publicly available.
But Dr Farbenblum said the program was only available to a small number of people on temporary visas.
“So either they would have to be a permanent resident or be freed of the fear of losing their visa,” she said.
A pilot program to enable visa holders to stay in Australia to pursue workplace compensation began last year. (AAP: Dean Lewins)
Calls to expand migrant visa claim services
Dr Farbenblum is calling on Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to extend the pilot program to more people and more service providers.
“Or to obtain a guarantee that if they come forward and speak about what’s happened to them at work, that that won’t affect their visa,” she said.
In a statement, a spokesperson from the Department of Home Affairs said requests to approve more service providers to participate in the pilot program have been shared with the government for consideration.
They said the government recognises workers need to feel secure to report alleged workplace exploitation.
John Vo understands the struggle of migrant workers first-hand. (ABC News: Scout Wallen)
Dr Farbenblum said the small claims court process also needed reform.
“It’s not accessible and it doesn’t work for the vast majority of migrant workers.”