International Student Workers Rights Need Protection
When a foreign student comes over to Australia on a student visa, he does so with high hopes and expectations about his host country. As his host, it is Australia’s job to insure that he gets the highest caliber of education available in the world, and that he is treated properly as a visitor in a strange land. For some strange reason though, Australian hospitality seems to fall through the cracks once these visitors temporarily join the workforce. It isn’t our fault that the cost of living in their country is a lot higher than the allowance that our family sends to us from overseas. Not all of the international students really need to work while studying here but do so in order to experience the kind of social exposure that we would not normally get as an ordinary student. Which is why as employers, Australians should not overstep their bounds and abuse us as guests. But that seems to be exactly what is happening to our lot.
Everybody knows that the minimum hourly wage in Australia is $15 per hour. That is a government mandate that does not discriminate in terms of race, gender, sex, sexual orientation, or status of employment. In other words, foreign students are not exempted from workers rights. The laws that apply to ordinary Australian citizens applies to us as well, no exceptions. However, not all of the foreign students working in the student communities are well versed in terms of their rights as employees.
Take for example the case of Mr.Keng, a university student, who has been studying and working part time at a Chinese restaurant. The kitchen has been his work area for the past 2 years where he washes dishes, helps prepare minor dishes, and doubles as a busboy during rush hours. He gets paid $9 an hour without tax deductions. I caught up with him after his work shift at a local coffee shop and asked him to tell me his story. And his tale, left me feeling sad at the plight that some foreign students working part-time in Australia face.
“I have to be honest with you. When I started working at the restaurant 2 years ago, I did not know anything about my rights as worker. They paid me $6 an hour during my training period that lasted one month and then increased my salary to $9 a hour when I passed the training period. I had no idea about what the minimum hourly salary rate was at the time and did not even know that I was covered by the country’s regular employment laws. I was just so happy to be working and learning about the work environment in Australia.”
It seems that some unscrupulous employers have decided to take advantage of the eagerness of international students to integrate into the social landscape. So they have decided to arbitrarily enforce their own employment laws. Keng is not the first employee at the restaurant who was duped by the owner of the venue. We were later joined by his childhood friend and current roommate Mr.Kim who further enlightened me on the trials that they face.
“Keng is lucky to have been paid $9 an hour. I work at a Thai restaurant and I get paid $8 an hour. We both know that we are severely underpaid but don’t complain because it is very difficult for non Australians to find a job here. I was once rejected for a job as a barista at a coffee bar because they wanted somebody who was white and spoke English clearly.”
According to Keng and Kim, they have both tried to find higher paying jobs in the area but have not found any employers who were willing to pay them regular salary rates. Both of them are wondering if they will see the day when foreign students working in Australia will finally be paid the proper minimum wage, whatever it might be by that time.
Being casual employees, visiting students generally work a preset number of hours each week, usually only half the time that regular employees are expected to punch in at work. Generally, the part time employees have the same worker’s rights as the regular employees (based upon hours worked instead of days of work) and most of these employers stick to the rules as it applies to the part time native Australian student / employee. However, employers have decided to apply the employment laws arbitrarily in relation to international working students.
Since international students enter the workforce without any idea of what to expect in terms of treatment and salary, the tendency is to accept whatever offer is set on the table for us. Thinking that everything is on the level and that is how business in Australia is done.
Mr. Sawarut, a 29 year old Thai who has been an international student with casual worker status for the past 2 years has been working at the local Thai restaurant for $8.50 an hour in order to support himself to cover his food and housing. We all know the financial difficulties faced by regular Australians with regular employment, imagine how that can translate into triple fold for visiting students like us. That is exactly why international students should be considered the unsung heroes of the Australian economy and therefore, should be treated fairly as well. We repay our Australian hosts for the hospitality bestowed upon us by being of service to them whenever we can.
Sawarut explains that the reason he is still working at the Thai restaurant even though he knows that he is getting the bum end of the stick is because ” I can speak in my native tongue (Thai). I get to spend some time everyday with people from Thailand and that helps ease my home sickness pangs. More importantly, they may pay me only $8.50 an hour but they allow me to eat two meals, usually lunch and dinner, at the restaurant, and take home some food at the end of the day, all for free. So I figured that they may be paying me less than minimum wage but it all evens out at the end.”
He continues to explain that almost all foreign students working part time in Melbourne are paid less than minimum wage but they are all fine with it. But if he can get paid 15$ per hour, based upon minimum wage regulation , he will very happy.
It appears that most employers view international student workers as casual instead of part time or regular members of their work force because as students, we cannot guarantee the number of hours that we will be working on a monthly, weekly, or daily basis. Which is why part time and international student workers are not entitled to paid sick leave or annual leave. Normally though, casual workers get paid a lot more money because of these conditions. In other words, what the employee cannot have in terms of benefits, should be translated into financial benefits instead. This is something that international working students need as an employment benefit most of all.
By this point, it had become clear to me that our sector of working students have never been told of our rights as workers in Australia, and nobody was about to take up the cudgels for us in order to try and get us a fair shake employment wise.
I met with Ja Tilkanont a Master Student from Monash University. He said that when he first came to Australia, he did not expect to be unfairly treated since he had heard a lot about how special Australian hospitality was. Instead, during his time of need, he learned all about how Australian employers just wanted to keep putting one over him in every way they could. Which is why he had this piece of advice for other international students seeking to work casually in Australia; ” Don’t be so excited about working and earning your own money that you accept the first job offer that comes along. If you are offered $300 a month as salary at any job, do not take the offer. Consider how much you have to pay for your housing, transportation, and food, and you will realize how you are being shortchanged by that employer. Demand that they pay you $15 an hour or walk away. We are hard working students who need some help in order to complete our education. There are laws in place to protect us, demand that the laws be followed or report them to the government.”
Mr.Ja is right. These shady employers will continue to abuse our rights as international student workers for as long as we allow them to do so. That has to be stopped for the sake of the future incoming international students. Australians are fair and just people. They are not discriminatory, nor do they take advantage of the less fortunate. It is time that their image as selfish and abusive employers changes in the eyes of the international student community. All we ask as casual workers is that we be given our just dues. After all, our work helps bolster Australia’s image to the world just like any other Australian.
As international students working part time or even full time in a foreign land, we tend to blame our employers for any maltreatment that we may be receiving without realizing that we are actually the ones causing our own problems. Very rarely will an international student try to find out about his workers rights because he is either too busy to do so or does not have a very good grasp of the English language so he has no idea what kind of work deal he is getting into. We have to take responsibility for our own actions and shortcomings as employees as well. We must be aware of the fact that if we allow our employer to disregard Australian labor laws, we will suffer the most because we could be deported for allowing the employer to cheat on his taxes or some other violations that are sure to come to light once we, together with the employer are finally caught. Don’t risk the status of your student visa. Don’t be a party to a citizen cheating his government out of rightful tax collection. Demand respect from your employer by demanding he pay the proper wages. The Australian labor code can only protect us so much. It is up to us as employees, to use the existing labor laws to our advantage and utmost protection. We can only do that by becoming labor law literate employees and that is not hard to do here in Australia. All the labor information that one needs is actually at his fingertips.
For more information about International Student Workplace Rights, visit the Australian Government Workplace Ombudsman on the web at http://www.fairwork.gov.au. The website contains various helpful and informative links of interest to international students who are thinking of working casually while they study here. The Workplace Ombudsman Helpline number is 1300 724 200. While letters of concern can be sent via postal mail to the Workplace Ombudsman at GPO Box 9887 in your capital city.
