Taken to the cleaners

Transcription

1 Taken to the cleaners Experiences of international students working in the Australian retail cleaning industry By Victorian TAFE International and United Voice

2 VICTORIAN TAFE INTERNATIONAL INC Post Office Box 2195 Caulfield Junction, Victoria, 3161 Ph UNITED VOICE VICTORIA Ground Floor, Capel St North Melbourne, Victoria, 3051 Ph Fax: Approved by Jess Walsh, Secretary, United Voice Victoria, November 2012

3 Contents Foreword 4 Executive summary 5 ABOUT INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS CLEANING SHOPPING CENTRES 5 EXTREME WORKLOADS A WAY OF LIFE 5 IF YOUR SKIN IS NOT WHITE, YOU DON T GET RESPECT 5 VISAS BEFORE RIGHTS 6 POVERTY PAY AND STOLEN WAGES 6 GUMTREE: THE UNDERBELLY OF RETAIL CLEANING EXPOSED 6 INTRODUCTION 7 ABOUT THE RESEARCH 7 A Hidden world of work : ExPERIENCES OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS 8 A MYRIAD OF NATIONS 8 INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: A MYSTERY UNEXPLORED 8 THE BACKBONE OF CLEANING 9 Inside the RETAIL cleaning industry 10 EXPLOITATION: THE HALLMARK OF AN INDUSTRY 10 WORKING HARDER FOR LESS 10 Inexperienced and ripe for exploitation: About surveyed cleaners 11 Extreme workloads 12 HEALTH AND SAFETY 12 stolen wages 13 They put PRESSURE on EVERYONE 13 LITTLE UNDERSTANDING OF RIGHTS AT WORK 13 Culture of abuse and RACIsm 14 RUDE OR ABUSIVE SUPERVISORS 14 LACK of RESPECT 15 RACISM AND DISCRIMINATION 15 THEY DON T LIKE THE UNION 15 surviving on POVERTy wages 16 BUMPER PROFITS, POVERTY PAY 16 THE BURDEN OF BILLS 16 HEALTH FORGOTTEN 16 HOLIDAYS AN UNAFFORDABLE LUXURY 16 STOLEN WAGES AND WORKING FOR FREE 17 In THEIR OWN WORDS 18 Exposing the underbelly of retail cleaning 20 GUMTREE: WHERE employers find vulnerable WORKERS 20 A CONTRACT FOR EXPLOITATION 20 93% LIKELY TO BE UNDERPAYING CLEANERS 21 CONCLUsion: Welcome to Australia, but don t ask for respect 22 Endnotes 24

4 Foreword VICTORIAN TAFE INTERNATIONAL Victorian TAFE International (VTI) is an association of staff who work in TAFE Institutes and dual sector universities in international education in Victoria, Australia. Participation is open to any international education staff members including those in management, recruitment, business development, admissions, and quality and compliance in member public vocational education institutions. VTI exists to support and inform members, improve communication between members and other bodies, to increase awareness and understanding of international education generally. In keeping with its aim to improve connections with other bodies, VTI is very pleased to collaborate on this report with United Voice. We were very pleased to discover that United Voice had undertaken surveys of its members, which included international students and to have our Executive Officer, Dr Kate Dempsey, work with United Voice staff in publishing the outcomes of their research more broadly. VTI members are aware of anecdotal reports of work rights abuses suffered by international students and are very concerned to get the message out both to students themselves about their work rights and to government bodies and decision makers. VTI hopes this report will improve knowledge and understanding of the situations our international students find themselves in when they work as they study in Australia. VTI member institutes provide considerable information to students before they arrive in Australia. In their first few weeks in the country, they also provide information, accommodation, support and referral. The institutes also give advice on safety, medical help, emergency services and after-hours assistance. Considerable information is given to students at orientation, including students work rights and responsibilities. As this report shows, students are well aware of the requirements of their visa conditions. But this report also shows that exploitation can still occur in the workplace for vulnerable groups like international students. UNITED VOICE United Voice is one of Australia s largest unions, organising to win better jobs, stronger communities, a fairer society and a sustainable future. United Voice s collaboration with VTI on this report is part of a campaign for respect, fair pay and safe workloads for cleaners working in shopping centres across Victoria, and around Australia. We recognise that the cleaners discussed in this report are not just workers and members of their union, but students who are part of Australia s important education sector. Issues affecting them in the 4 workplace impact upon the education sector, and that is why collaboration with the VTI is so important.

5 Executive summary Last year, almost 300,000 people came from around the world to begin their studies in Australia. Many find they must work to support themselves and the government recognises that, allowing them to work for 40 hours a fortnight during term time. There has been little research on the working experiences of international students in Australia. This is surprising given the plethora of media reports, evidence to inquiries and investigations pursued by the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) so many of which have found that international students are frequently exploited. In the retail cleaning industry, many international students around half of whom are born in India are exploited because the industry is in crisis. Barriers to entry are low, so new contractors can win business from large shopping centre owners like Westfield and Colonial First State. Having won a cleaning contract at a low price, these operators soon find the easiest route to profitability is to intensify the workloads of the cleaners they employ. This means demanding that cleaners do more work in less time, leading to extreme workloads that can impact upon the health and safety of their cleaners. Hygiene can also suffer, as cleaners are forced to take shortcuts. It can also mean cutting pay or conditions. Or contractors can seek to deliberately underpay cleaners. In some cases, they do all three. Sham contracting and ignoring workplace laws are also a significant problem. In fact, an FWO investigation into the cleaning industry in Victoria recently found that 44 per cent of audited employers were breaking workplace laws. All these problems can be intensified because of the many sub-contractors that can stand between the ultimate client the shopping centre owner and the cleaner. With each looking to make a profit, less and less is left for the cleaners doing the work. Shopping centre owners like Westfield also contribute to the crisis by insisting on cutting back on the value of their contracts, forcing contractors to shift an even greater burden on to cleaners. International students are left bearing the brunt of this crisis, with the majority struggling to pay even their rent. A third also worked additional time without pay, exacerbating an already difficult financial situation. Some are also asked to violate their visas, putting them at risk of deportation. This report serves to highlight the need for shopping centre owners to support reform of the retail industry and end a crisis that is putting the welfare of its workers at risk. Shopping centre cleaners themselves have been campaigning for fundamental reform of their industry, seeking an end to extreme workloads, low pay and a culture that fosters a lack of respect and, at times, discrimination. ABOUT INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS CLEANING SHOPPING CENTRES The United Voice survey found that international students working in Victorian shopping centres were, on average, less experienced than their counterparts permanently living in Australia. They also worked shorter shifts and were much more likely to be working on a part-time or casual basis. Nearly one quarter 23 per cent clean Westfield shopping centres. Around half of them were born in India. A surprisingly high proportion more than one in five were supporting children, while 42.4 per cent were married or in a de facto relationship. The money they earn, therefore, is not just to support their studies but to support their growing families at a critical time in their lives. EXTREME WORKLOADS A WAY OF LIFE In recent years, cleaners working at shopping centres have seen their workloads rise to extreme levels. International students have not been immune to the trend, with 48.5 per cent saying they do not always have time to do their jobs properly. Some 37.1 per cent experienced stress caused by these intense workloads. These results were lower than for their non-student colleagues, but this could be attributed to their typically shorter shifts, and are still clearly high. A significant number of international students reported working for free on occasion, with 35.5 per cent saying they worked additional hours without being paid for them. IF YOUR SKIN IS NOT WHITE, YOU DON T GET RESPECT International students report positive aspects of working in Australia, including forging friendships. But for a significant number, employment here was, at times, a degrading experience. Forty per cent suffered rude or abusive behavior by a supervisor. Tellingly, this was almost twice as high as reported by cleaners who are not international students. Four of the students interviewed said they were treated differently by managers or customers because of their colour, their nationality or their gender. Said Dewan : If your skin is white you get the respect. If your skin is not white, you don t get the respect simple and easy. A quarter of foreign students surveyed added that their employers were hostile towards their membership of 5

6 a union, with many saying their managers had made it clear they did not want them to join or remain in a union. VISAS BEFORE RIGHTS The international students interviewed were well aware of their visa restrictions, which forbid them to work more than 40 hours a fortnight during term time. But the interviews with international students revealed that many were far less aware of their workplace rights. Given this ignorance of their rights, it is easy to see how employers can work that to their advantage. In failing to effectively educate them about their workplace rights, governments are breaching a clear duty of care. Indeed, so are shopping centre owners like Westfield, for which nearly a quarter of the students worked. POVERTY PAY AND STOLEN WAGES Shopping centre cleaners are poorly paid. Many earn as little as $17.05 per hour, not much more than the minimum wage. But since international students, on average, work less hours than their colleagues they also earn, on average, less. In fact, the international students surveyed earned an average of just $ per week after tax from their cleaning work. Though most received some financial support or had savings, all of them relied on the income from their cleaning job for all or most of their basic living costs. That puts international students working as cleaners under significant financial stress, even more so than their colleagues. Just over two thirds of them are sometimes having trouble paying for groceries; 69.7 per cent report struggling to pay bills and debts; 57.6 per cent sometimes have trouble paying their rent; and 60.6 per cent have trouble paying for the transportation that gets them to their jobs. More than half of those interviewed also said they have been paid incorrectly at least once some said they didn t receive all of the pay they were owed. GUMTREE: THE UNDERBELLY OF RETAIL CLEANING EXPOSED After a jobs ad for cleaners on the Gumtree website which demanded that no Indians or Asians should apply was the subject of media attention, an analysis of job ads on the website was conducted over a month. The website is a popular one for students looking for work in Australia, and the analysis found many examples of the crisis into which the retail cleaning industry has fallen. Nearly half of the 40 retail cleaning advertisements on the site over this period demanded or asked for an ABN the unique identifier allowing a worker to operate as a stand-alone business or the job was advertised as being on a contract. Cleaners working as independent contractors could be engaged in sham contracting. Even if they are not, cleaners working as independent contractors need to factor in costs to compensate for lack of entitlements, such as superannuation, penalty rates and holiday pay, to find if they are being underpaid. In order to determine if cleaners were being underpaid, the pay rates advertised were compared to relevant Award rates for 15 of the advertisements: 93 per cent appeared to be underpaying cleaners, according to our estimates. Of those, the estimated average underpayment was $9.88 per hour, or $139 per week. On average these cleaners were likely to receive only two thirds of what they were fairly owed. Individual estimated underpayments ranged from around $2 per hour to just over $21 per hour and from around $40 per week to over $250 per week. The estimated proportion of remuneration that cleaners would have missed out on ranged from 10 per cent to 57 per cent. Workers who do not understand their rights or feel they are in no position to refuse the work on offer are the ones most likely to answer these advertisements. While not every one will be international students, it is certainly likely to include many of them.

7 Introduction International students have become one of the cornerstones of our economy, with foreign education one of our biggest exports and the key to survival for many Australian educational institutions. In fact, onshore international education generated $15.1 billion for the economy in But international students are more than just a cash cow for Australia. While they are here, they join our communities and contribute even further to our economy by working in essential industries like retail cleaning. It is necessary to understand these students experiences in order to safeguard the economic and social contribution they make. Yet there has been little such research undertaken, which led VTI and United Voice to work together and analyse the data held by the union on the students who clean our shopping centres. This report reveals that a crisis in the retail contract cleaning industry is affecting shopping centre cleaners, focussing on the experience of international students. It explores the impact extreme workloads and unpaid work caused by this crisis has on students. The report also highlights the need for shopping centre owners to embrace reform of the contract cleaning industry, rather than to continue to squeeze their margins a phenomenon which contributes to this crisis in the first place. It finds that this crisis means international students working as cleaners are poorly paid and under significant financial stress, while often dealing with abusive behaviour by management, anti-union hostility and a culture of discrimination and racism. Some are also struggling with errors to their pay, and with advertised retail cleaning work undertaken by international students often likely to be underpaid. ABOUT THE RESEARCH United Voice Victoria surveyed retail cleaners (predominantly working in Victoria s shopping centres) between April and August Around 380 cleaners completed the survey. Last year, Uniting Care Creative Ministries Network released a report based on the research, Cutting Corners: Cleaners Struggle for Justice with Victorian Shopping Centres Contract Cleaning System. That report provides an in-depth exploration of the crisis that impacts upon shopping centre cleaners. Some 33 of the cleaners surveyed were international students, and it became apparent that some, although not all, of the challenges they faced were unique. It was decided to more fully explore the experiences of international students in order to better understand the frequently disturbing challenges they face. Throughout this report, the data collected from the international students was compared to the results of the overall survey. In addition, 11 phone interviews were conducted in May and August These interviewees were all working in retail cleaning, mostly in shopping centres, and were either currently international students or had recently completed their studies. In all, 41 international student cleaners were surveyed, interviewed or both. While a modest sample size, we believe our analysis makes an important contribution to our understanding of international students given the dearth of research on the topic. Already United Voice estimates that international students make up around half of the cleaners working in our shopping centres. Compared to around a third of the workforce just two years ago, that proportion is clearly growing. Many international students remain fearful of speaking out, concerned about the potential impact on their jobs or their studies. But some were willing to cast a light on the industry in which they work, and we hope this research can be a first step in more fully understanding their experiences. In the interviews featured in this report, pseudonyms have been used to protect the identity of the international students quoted. Advertisements on the Gumtree website were also collected and analysed. Forty retail cleaning jobs were advertised in this period. All were posted in the jobs 7

8 A hidden world of work: Experiences of international students section but included contract work, which may have been a contract for services rather than employment. A MYRIAD OF NATIONS Last year, almost 300,00 international students came to Australia to study. 2 A third are studying in universities, a third in vocational educational training and about a quarter are in specialist English-language courses. 3 The students arrive from a myriad of countries, but most come from China, India, Malaysia, South Korea and Vietnam. 4 In 2010, the government made changes to the visa program covering international students, requiring that they be able to cover the costs of studying and living here along with proof they have access to $18,000. They are not required to find a job but, under strict conditions, are allowed to work for up to 40 hours a fortnight during term time and as many hours as they like outside of term time. Just as with any worker in Australia, international students are legally protected by regulations governing pay and conditions. INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: A MYSTERY UNEXPLORED While international students have the same legal rights as anyone else working in Australia, stories abound of exploitation and abuse by employers. A recent newspaper article about cleaners in Sydney is just one example. The article revealed that international students were forced to pay secret commissions to keep their jobs, with a Thai business student forced to pay the wages of someone to replace her when she was sick. She told the newspaper: Many cleaners are too frightened to complain because they want to keep their work. 5 The Fair Work Ombudsman is right now pursuing a case in which a Melbourne contract cleaning company, Over the Top Happy Cleaning Services, allegedly did not pay three international student cleaners for a total of 331 hours. The Ombudsman is seeking an order for the employees to be back-paid and the owner of the company faces fines of up to $6600 per alleged breach. 6 A number of submissions to various relevant inquiries have also included anecdotal evidence of exploitation of international students working in Australia. A 2008 taskforce in Victoria heard that a significant number of international students work in excess of the 40 hours a fortnight their visa allows simply to meet 8 the cost of living in Australia. The taskforce noted that this leaves the students open to exploitation, because they fear they will be reported to immigration authorities if they try to enforce their workplace rights. 7 In 2009, an Australian Senate Committee reviewed the welfare of international students. The Senate Committee Inquiry received 124 submissions, many on the safety and wellbeing of international students in the workplace. Examples were cited of students having a poor understanding of their rights at work and exploitation occurring at work, including unpaid overtime, cash payment or under-award payment. 8 Despite an abundance of these stories, there remains little systematic research into the experiences of international students in Australian workplaces. Professor Simon Marginson, of Melbourne University, recently wrote a book on international student security, but it does not cover work issues in depth. Professor Chris Nyland, from Monash University, and other colleagues covered the issue in 2005, but he has done no further work on the issue. One of Professor Nyland s PhD students, Danny Ong, was recently forced to changed his thesis from international students and work issues, simply because he could find virtually no literature on the topic. The relevant databases, too, yield no peer-reviewed results on the subject of international students and workrelated issues. The aforementioned Monash University research is the most significant study on the experiences of international students at work, and included qualitative interviews with 200 international students at nine universities. The study found that a majority 58 per cent of working students who revealed their wage were likely to be earning less than the legal minimum 9, and one third were earning as little as $7-$10 per hour 10. The study found that these students were often paid in cash, so they were unlikely to have access to basic entitlements. One student told the researchers: It s bad, just $7 an hour before they said they gave lunch, and then they didn t give me anything after I worked there. She said I gave you probation so I have lunch for a week for free and then they lied to me [and] they said when I started to work properly they didn t give anything. 11 Researchers also noted that international students may often under-report the hours they work for fear of being deported. Research by the Victorian Immigrant and Refugee Women s Coalition and United Voice in 2010 provides

9 some insights into the experiences of international students who clean Melbourne s luxury hotel rooms. 12 Twenty six of around 350 respondents were international students, and around three quarters were employed by a contractor rather than directly by the hotel. This was significantly higher than the 51 per cent of their colleagues who were employed indirectly. Contractors were found to frequently give room attendants less time to clean rooms, forcing workloads to climb to extreme levels. Since a higher proportion of international students are hired by these contractors, it is these students who experience the worst of these intense workloads. A vast majority 85 per cent of international students working as room attendants said they were not given enough time to clean rooms, compared to 73 per cent of their co-workers. Most reported being pressured to stay back, made to work past their finishing times, and in many cases were not always paid for that work. A majority of international students 58.4 per cent reported staying back for an average of an hour or more every shift, well above the 31.6 per cent of their colleagues who did the same. Some 75 per cent of international students working as room attendants sometimes felt stressed about their workload, and nearly a quarter had been injured at work. THE BACKBONE OF CLEANING Little is known about the number of international students working as cleaners. But in a small pilot audit in the Sydney CBD cleaning industry, the Fair Work Ombudsman found a significant number of overseas students working in the businesses audited. 13 Unfortunately, the FWO was not able to provide any data from the subsequent larger audit specific to international students.

10 Inside the retail cleaning industry EXPLOITATION: THE HALLMARK OF AN INDUSTRY The ease of entry into the cleaning industry is the principal reason it is so intensely competitive. But once in the industry, it is difficult to remain viable without undercutting rivals, and it is this competition on price that can ultimately weigh on cleaners themselves. Contractors, feeling margins squeezed by the demands of shopping centre owners like Westfield to cut the price of their contracts, see the cost of labour as the easiest place to cut back in order to ensure a profit. This is at the heart of the crisis felt in the retail cleaning industry. The two most effective ways of cutting labour costs are by driving up workloads and lowering employment standards and cleaning contractors often do both. Frequently, intensifying workloads and lowering employment standards means ignoring workplace laws. According to the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO): With the ability to access a large and potentially vulnerable labour pool; a need to keep costs low to remain competitive; and labour typically representing the most significant cost to the enterprise, the environment is one that presents a higher risk of non-compliance with workplace laws and obligations. 14 In fact, a recent FWO investigation into the cleaning industry revealed that in Victoria 44 per cent of audited employers were in contravention of workplace laws. 15 In another investigation, the FWO found that 21.5 per cent of audited cleaning companies were misclassifying employees as independent contractors. 16 This is possibly because engaging cleaners as independent contractors is a relatively simple way to get around workplace laws. While caution needs to be exercised when making general statements about the application of the common law test of employment, it is difficult to see how a cleaner performing simple work for a single principle contractor, who wears their uniform, operates their 10 equipment and accepts little or no commercial risk, can be defined as anything other than an employee, said the FWO. 17 WORKING HARDER FOR LESS Another effective way of cutting labour costs is through work intensification simply pressuring cleaners to do more work in less time. 18 Late last year, Crikey reported claims that Westfield was attempting to slash 20 to 25 per cent off its shopping centre cleaning contracts. 19 These are the trends that are exacerbating the crisis in the retail cleaning industry, because they encourage contractors to continue intensifying cleaners workloads. Indeed, a 2011 report by Uniting Care and United Voice, which drew on the same raw data as this report, Cutting Corners: Cleaners Struggle For Justice With Victorian Shopping Centres Contract Cleaning System, found that a majority of shopping centre cleaners do not always have enough time to clean properly. That report found that extreme workloads have a harmful impact on cleaners, leading to stress, injuries and breakdowns. It also revealed that excessive workloads can compromise the cleanliness of shopping centres. 20 Further research has found that this crisis is hurting both the cleaners and the shopping centres they work in: Pedometer research found that shopping centre cleaners walk an average of 14.6 kilometres in an eight-hour shift the equivalent of 84 times the length of the MCG. 21 Swab testing by an independent forensic cleaning expert found all but one shopping centre suffered bacteria levels far in excess of acceptable hygiene standards, putting the health of shoppers at risk. 22 An Auspoll survey of shoppers found that 66 per cent believe their shopping centre to be at times unclean, while almost one in five had avoided toilets at their centre. 23 This crisis is why retail cleaners are standing together as part of the Clean Start campaign for liveable wages, safe workloads and time enough to do their jobs properly.

11 Inexperienced and ripe for exploitation: About surveyed cleaners The profile of international students working as cleaners in shopping centres is in sharp contrast with the rest of the retail cleaning workforce. International students are: Less experienced: 66.7 per cent of them had two years or less experience in the industry, compared to 15.6 per cent of other cleaners. Younger: 69.7 per cent of international student cleaners were under 30 years of age, compared with 8.5 per cent of other cleaners. More likely to be single: 54.5 per cent of international student cleaners were single, compared with 17.9 per cent of other cleaners. However, a sizeable minority 42.4 per cent are married or in a de facto relationship. Less likely to be parents: 21.2 per cent of international student cleaners are supporting children. While that s significantly less than other cleaners 46 per cent it is still a significant proportion of students. Around half born in India: The three countries that international students are most likely to be born in are India, Colombia and Sri Lanka. Cleaners who are not international students are also a very diverse group, with the three top countries in which they were born being Australia, Macedonia and Greece. More part time and casual work: International student cleaners are much more likely to work part time 73.1 per cent or casual 23.1 per cent than their colleagues, 40.3 per cent of whom worked part time and only 3.8 per cent casual. Shorter shifts on days when they work: International students, on average, had shorter shifts on the days that they worked, with an average of 5.1 hours. Their colleagues worked an average of 6.6 hours a shift. Just 18.8 per cent of international students normally work a full day when they work, compared with 62 per cent of other cleaners. Nearly one quarter working at Westfield centres: 23 per cent of international student cleaners were working at centres owned by Westfield and 20 per cent at GPT Group-owned centres. 25 Owners of shopping centre cleaners where international students worked WESTFIELD GPT GROUP OTHER CENTRO 23% 20% 17% 10% 20% 10% Westfield GPT Group CFS-COMMBANK MYER/DJs Other Centro CFS- Myer/ Commbank DJs 11

12 Extreme workloads 12 As cleaning contracts for big shopping centres are squeezed and hours cut, cleaners have been forced to do ever more in ever less time. International students have not been immune to the impact of the intensifying of workloads. Nearly half of international students 48.5 per cent say they do not always have time to do their job properly. While slightly lower than for their colleagues at 54.7 per cent, it is still high. Four in 10 international students working as cleaners say they do not always have sufficient time to clean the bathrooms and 40.6 per cent do not always have enough time to clean the food court. The crisis in retail cleaning has placed a burden on international students, as the students themselves attest: We have heard that they will be reducing cleaning hours 20 per cent overall by centre management. Chamara [Centre management] cut the hours, so after that there is more workload for us We have to cover a big area. We used to do like the two people, now it s only one person When it s busy it s really hard to keep [up] with the work. That s a problem. Dammika Sometimes [we have enough time to do the job properly] but sometimes one person has to do a twoperson job. If someone is sick they don t call anyone else. In the food court we have to clear the dishes and everything and there is 22 shops. They all have the cutlery, the plates [etc] But sometimes if they don t have any [clean plates, etc] [well], I m only one person I can t do all the shops! And they start yelling at us. Dinesh Sometimes when the shopping place is busy, the floor becomes very dirty and then you have to check spillages. In the meantime the bins get very full very quickly. When it s busy there is not enough time. Sunil Holidays are too busy, dozens of employees break down, need more staff on particular shifts. Sandip HEALTH AND SAFETY Among the international students working as cleaners, some had concerns about health and safety brought on by intense workloads. Arivinda said that he strain[ed] my back all the time. Maria said: It s not every day, but sometimes it s really hard. Those days you just suffer. Around one in three international students surveyed suffered stress about their workloads. Although it was less than their colleagues, 51.3 per cent of whom suffered stress, it s still clearly high and the lower rate may simply be due to the typically less hours worked by international students. Another symptom of a retail cleaning industry in crisis is a lack of appropriate chemicals and cleaning equipment, which presents a significant occupational health and safety risk and an obvious problem when it comes to maintaining acceptable standards of hygiene. It s a risk to our health but they don t consider that because at the end of the day they need the job done. Some 12.5 per cent of international students working as cleaners said they do not always have the right chemicals, and 18.2 per cent do not always have the right equipment to do their jobs properly. Gloves, if they [are] broken, they only give one pair then have to go to supervisor, but if busy no time, then have to work without gloves, Sandip They don t care much about safety in cleaning, to be honest with you. When we re asking for the masks they never consider about that, and the appliances are broken they don t fix it. We don t have the proper equipment the vacuums are broken, the dust is running around us. If I work five days, one day something is broken but somehow we have to use that to get the job done. It s a risk to our health but they don t consider that because at the end of the day they need the job done. Thilan

13 Stolen wages International student cleaners are more likely to start early or stay late, or work back for longer periods than their colleagues. Around one third reported sometimes working through breaks to get their work finished, and more than a quarter felt pressured to start early or stay back. A majority of international student cleaners start early or work past their finishing time to get their work finished. This was significantly more than their colleagues, of whom 30.5 per cent started early or stayed back. Casual and part-time cleaners are more likely to start early or stay back than full-time cleaners. Since most international students are casual and part-time, this is clearly having an impact on them. When cleaners are paid for working additional hours, overtime can be part and parcel of casual work. But over a third of international students working as cleaners reported working additional time without pay. In fact, of those who did start early or stayed back, a majority said they are not always paid for the extra work. Of those that indicated on an earlier question that they start early or stay back: Are you always paid for that work? International Other cleaners student cleaners Yes 25.0% 34.4% No 56.3% 62.5% Don t Know 12.5% 2.1% I don t stay back 6.3% 1.1% They put pressure on everyone A Sri Lankan student, Kumar, surveyed for this report said he works back an average of half an hour of every shift, without ever being paid for it. The centre s getting busy but won t increase time, he said. When it is busy, he also works through his breaks. Management won t put on extra staff, Kumar said. He said he felt pressure to stay back, saying: There is a guy in charge who puts pressure on everyone. [He] uses team work as an excuse to make people work back later. An international student from Colombia, Oscar, reported working an average of 15 minutes extra without pay so that he can prepare his trolley, and sometimes working through his breaks. Why? Because he is too busy. An international student from India, Rakesh, works back an average of one hour every shift without pay, which he does just to get it finished. Rakesh said he does not always take breaks: [I] skip them entirely to keep working just to finish in time. There just is not time to take breaks anymore. LITTLE UNDERSTANDING OF RIGHTS AT WORK International students revealed that many know much more about their visa restrictions than they do about their rights in the workplace, obviously leaving them at significant risk of exploitation. When asked if she had been given any information about her rights at work, Ana replied: No. Just that I was going to be allowed to work 20 hours per week and that s it. Students interviewed regularly mentioned their visa restrictions, but were often unaware that they could turn to organisations like their union, the Fair Work Ombudsman or government departments help or advice. In the workplace, we have no rights, Dewan said. There [are] no rights. You talk about rights, they give you more job, they give you more punishment, they give you mental pressure. 13

14 Culture of abuse and racism Many of the international students interviewed said they have forged friendships through work. One even said work is a better place to meet people than university. I found my workplace a very fun place. I love to work there because I meet a lot of people. It s better than my uni, actually, because over there you finish one class and you won t see the person for one week. I think my workplace is better to make friends than my studies, said Ayesha. RUDE OR ABUSIVE SUPERVISORS But such positive experiences are not the rule, with nearly 40 per cent reporting that their supervisors were sometimes rude or abusive. This is significantly higher than their colleagues, of whom only 20.6 per cent found their supervisor to be at times rude or abusive. Are you supervisors ever rude or abusive to you? Answered: YES International student cleaders Other cleaners Said Kumar: [There is one supervisor] that was rude to everyone. Everyone was stressed. [He was] pushing people to the edge; swearing, calling names. Not physical, [but] emotionally abusive. One guy nearly cried as [the] supervisor was rude in front of other staff members and customers. Said Dinesh of his manager: She is rude [and] talks in an angry voice. I m always scared of her. She yells when we don t finish the areas in the given time. They tell you rude words and they say they are your boss, says Dilvan of his manager. He doesn t listen to me, he always calls me [a] liar, recalls Priya. Dewan attributed rude or abusive behaviour to cultural differences between his home country and Australia.

15 In my culture, when you talk with people, we are not like, you mother f***er, he said. We don t use any slang, it s bad English. But when the manager is talking with us, it s their culture. Most of the time they use bad words or they give a direct order: do it. We are not used to these things. One student once lost a job for arriving to work five minutes late, which a subsequent supervisor used to scare her. Her boss would tell Meena: You have to be careful otherwise you can lose your job like what happened to you before. LACK OF RESPECT Some international students enjoyed a positive experience at work: They are really good with international students... they give me weekend shifts so I can earn more money, said Dammika. But many international students felt they received little respect when they worked as cleaners in a Melbourne shopping centre. Said Dinesh: I [had a] stomach ache [and] in one hour I d been to the toilet twice and they said: you ve been to the toilet twice in one hour. I thought, is that [a] topic of discussion? They didn t give me a warning for that, but they told [me] you ve been doing this and it s not good, and you re going to lose your job. Ayesha also recounted poor treatment from retail staff and customers at her shopping centre. Sometimes some people I can see it straight away they treat us as a cleaner, but some people, they treat us as a human, she said. RACISM AND DISCRIMINATION Since an advertisement for cleaners appeared on the Gumtree website demanding no Indians or Asians, the spectre of racism has come under the spotlight. While not specifically asked, four of the 11 students interviewed said they have experienced discrimination based on their race, nationality or gender. Dewan was explicit about the racism encountered while working as a cleaner: If your skin is white you get the respect. If your skin is not white, you don t get the respect, simple and easy. Lots of law[s] here. But nothing, no law for you if you are not [a] resident, if your skin is not white. That s my experience, he added. Dinesh said his managers failed to extend basic courtesies: Their behavior is a bit rude. If you say hi and hello, they didn t even get back to us, said one. He added that the dismissive attitude was mostly with Indians. They just pushing us, like hard job, but we have to do it because we have to work, we can t leave. Dinesh also said his supervisor believed that management discriminates against Indians: Better find another job because you can t get any more shifts here, I don t think. They used to have plenty now they say they don t hire Indians. Ayesha reported encountering racist attitudes among retail staff and shopping centre customers. Racism is too much here because we look like Indians they treat us a bit different way. Sometimes some Australians they don t like Indians, she said. Ayesha said discrimination is not limited to racism. Sexism was another complaint. She said: Because I m a girl they try to give boys stuff [extra hours] first and then they count on us. In terms of gender there is a huge difference. They think the girls are a bit weak, so they think we can t do the job properly. THEY DON T LIKE THE UNION A quarter of the international students surveyed encountered hostility from their bosses towards unions and their membership of a union, compared to only 14.4 per cent of their colleagues. They didn t like any union meetings, said Chandra. The bosses said the union didn t do anything for them so they didn t like the union coming on site and talking to us and stopping us working. Said Priya: They don t like the union and they don t like me talking to the union. Do your supervisors and managers ever make you feel like they don t want you to be a union member? Answered: YES % 14.4% 19.8% 14.4% International student cleaners Other cleaners Employed part-time or casual Employed full-time 15

16 Surviving on poverty wages 16 BUMPER PROFITS, POVERTY PAY In the first half of this year, Westfield Group reported a 31.4 per cent increase in profit to $800.1 million, 24 while Colonial First State is planning a $500 million expansion of Chadstone shopping centre. 25 Yet very little of these healthy bottom lines are being shared with the cleaners who work at their shopping centres, with contractors paying them as little as they can legally get away with. Many cleaners are on just $17.05 an hour and sometimes not even that. Cleaners struggle to survive on these wages, and international students are no exception. While most have savings or family support, every one of the international students interviewed relies on their income to survive and, in some cases, to pay their tuition fees. This places them under significant financial stress. The international student cleaners surveyed earned an average of just $ per week after tax. While their hourly rates were the same as their colleagues, international students must work fewer hours, and that leaves their weekly earnings at precariously low levels. A majority of international students surveyed earned an average of less than $350 per week after tax, compared to just 13 per cent of their colleagues. Average Weekly Pay (after tax) International Other cleaners student cleaners Under $ % 2.4% $200 to less 48.3% 10.5% than $350 $350 to less than 24.1% 22.4% $500 $500 to less 13.8% 30.6% than $650 $650 to less than 3.4% 26.2% $800 $800 or more 0% 7.8% THE BURDEN OF BILLS For all retail cleaners, struggling to survive is a reality of life but international students reported even greater financial stress than their non-student colleagues. Around two thirds (66.7 per cent) of surveyed international students working as cleaners have trouble paying for groceries, compared with 47.2 per cent of their colleagues. A majority (57.6 per cent) sometimes have trouble paying rent or mortgage repayments. More than two thirds (69.7 per cent) sometimes have trouble paying bills and debts. Most (60.6 per cent) sometimes have trouble with transport costs such as petrol and public transport, and a majority (57.6 per cent) cannot afford a car. Said Shazia: I live in a shared accommodation. [There are] five people in two bedrooms so we can pay for everything. I only use car if I must, said Aravinda. Sometimes have trouble paying for groceries Sometimes have trouble paying rent/mortgage repayments Sometimes have trouble paying bills/debts Sometimes have trouble with transport costs Can t afford a car International Other cleaners student cleaners 66.7% 47.2% 57.6% 45.3% 69.7% 60.1% 60.6% 41.3% 57.6% 22.2% HEALTH FORGOTTEN Rent, bills and groceries are essentials of life that international students struggle to afford. But international students also had trouble paying for basic medical and dental care. More than three quarters said they simply cannot afford to visit a dentist, and more than two thirds have trouble paying for essential medical expenses. We have to have private health insurance as part of the visa conditions and that s a lot of money to pay out, said Chandra. HOLIDAYS AN UNAFFORDABLE LUXURY All Australians would agree that enjoying a holiday, or even a little downtime away from work, is an essential in life. But for international students working as cleaners, enjoying precious time off is not something they can take for granted. Indeed, it s a luxury few can even contemplate.

17 More than two thirds said they cannot afford even a simple pastime like going to the movies. I usually don t go out because if I go out I have to pay, I have to buy things, said Ana. Everything is so expensive here. So I have to restrict from some stuff. International students are also unlikely to see much of Australia while they re in the country, with 69.7 per cent unable to afford any kind of holiday. Because of the financial pressure that international students are under, many may find it difficult to resist demands that they breach their visas and work more hours than their visas allow. As international students we don t get any benefits specifically, for example, concessions on transport and even the university fees are the highest ones, said Maria. So it s very hard for us to manage to pay everything that we have to pay. That s why we have to work all the time that we can work, and some people accept any job just to be able to pay the bills and the things they have to pay. Thilan said: They knew I can work 20 hours but they were shifty, they gave me more hours. But I needed the money, [so] I worked. I have to otherwise they won t give me shifts. [But] according to my visa I was allowed to work only 20 hours at that time, but I had to work more I can t afford with 20 hours. I was with my family. STOLEN WAGES AND WORKING FOR FREE Adding to their financial pressure is a culture of underpayment, another common symptom of the crisis in the retail cleaning industry. Six of the 11 interviewed had been incorrectly paid. Sometimes they didn t [pay] the Saturday properly. We have to check all the time, said Dammika. Three of the students had never received all of the pay they were owed. One even said that after talking to his employer about being incorrectly paid, his workload increased. I get less $2,000 payment, Dewan said. When I talk about [being incorrectly paid] they push me, more job, more job. They increased the workload they give me double. One said that his employer had actively tried to work around his visa restrictions by having him work over 20 hours in one week, but shifting the pay for those extra hours into his following week s pay. Three students reported that either they or one of their fellow students working as cleaners were not paid when they worked more than 20 hours in the one week. They had little chance of challenging their employers for the money owed, given the potential breach of their visas.

18 In their own words To better understand the experiences of international students working as cleaners in our shopping centres, 11 were interviewed. They discussed the challenges they face, including encountering underpayment, overwork and racism or other forms of discrimination. The following are excerpts from some of these interviews. DEWAN, BANGLADESH On the failure of his employers to pay him for every hour he worked: Sometimes... they don t pay me. I faced [problems] like that. They know I can t do anything about this. On insisting he be paid for all his work: I m always scared about this. If I do something... I can t do something. I ll lose my job. I know a lot of people, they don t say anything about this matter. On being paid less than the minimum wage: Lots of times, lots of times. When I talk about this [with] the manager... they push me. More job, more job. If I talk about this... they give me pressure. They increased the workload, like they give me double. Because they know [I am] a student who is not permanently living here, they can give [me] more trouble, you know? We can t do anything... they know this. It s different for international students. We are treated as servants. On being treated differently as an international student: It s different for international students. [We are treated] as a servant, you know? Servant. Servant means slave, s-l-a-v-e. On rights in the workplace: Blah, blah, blah... in the workplace we have no rights. There is no rights...[if] you talk about your rights... they give you more job, they give you more punishment... they give you mental pressure. On speaking out: My brother called me and asked why I am talking because he is scared that if I talk that maybe I will face the full action, more problem. It s not good for anyone. On racism in the workplace: I will tell you, if your skin is white you get the respect, if your skin is not white, you don t get the respect simple and easy. 18 Lots of law is here... but nothing, no law for you if you are not resident, if your skin is not white. MARIA, COLOMBIA On poor treatment in the workplace: Overload in the workload that we have in the day, that would be bad treatment. It s very hard for us to manage to pay for everything we have to pay. The people that work in the same store, they don t have the same treatment with us... they will boss you around even though they don t have any authority on you. On intense workloads and the need to work back: We work for four hours straight with no breaks... sometimes I have stay five or 10 minutes longer just to finish the last things that I m missing. On having to buy her own equipment: We don t have any gloves or things like that given to us, some people have to buy their gloves by themselves if they want it. On intense workloads and study: Well, after work I have to go and study, so if I m really tired I really struggle sometimes just to [be] able to work and study and everything. On surviving on low wages: It s very hard for us to manage to pay everything that we have to pay, and that s why we have to work all the time that we can work, and some people accept any job just to be able to pay their bills. If I was here completely alone I would struggle because then you don t have enough to pay the rent and to be able to pay for transport and food and everything. On making new friends at work: It s nice that there are many people from many cultures here. So I ve found it easy to find friends here from many different cultures. THILAN, SRI LANKA On working more hours than his visa allows: When they had work they knew I can work 20 hours but they were shifty, they gave me more hours. But I needed money, I worked. I worked more hours... when they required... otherwise they won t give me shifts. On not being paid for all the work he did: They didn t pay a few shifts. I raised it with them and I got a few paid, but a few I didn t get paid.

19 On poor treatment at work: I m not happy with my cleaning career because they never recognise the good work and they don t treat [me] fairly. On not getting enough time to do the job properly: A few years ago I had the time, but not now. They don t give the proper time to do the proper job. Actually, they are dodgy, they are not giving the proper hours to do the proper job. On working back, and not getting paid for it: I always start a few minutes early. There s a clock on the system and the managers... have signing power, so if I clock off at ten past five, I don t get paid for that 10 minutes extra. On working more hours than his visa allows: They never treat me with respect. Some days I had to work like six or seven hours, sign only five hours and the next two hours was paid... the next week. That was dodgy [but] they did that. On respect in the workplace: They never treat me with respect. On health and safety: They don t care much about safety in cleaning to be honest with you. When we re asking for masks they never consider about that, and the appliances are broken [and] they don t fix it. We don t have proper equipment so the vacuums are broken and the dust is running around us. But... at the end of the day, they want the job done. If I work five days, one day something is broken... but somehow we have to use that to get the job done. They think the girls are a bit weak... so they prefer to take boys. On not being paid for all the hours she s worked: I worked... one of the public holidays. But I still haven t got my pay. Sometimes some Australians, they don t like Indians. On racism in the workplace: Racism is too much here. Because we look like Indians they treat us a bit different way. Sometimes some Australians... they don t like Indians. On balancing work and studies: It s really tough. We feel this when the exams come... because we can t take leave from work. DINESH, INDIA On not being paid for all the hours he worked: They forgot to pay some hours, and when we go back and tell them we didn t get the pay. On rude and racist behaviour at work: Behaviour-wise, they are a bit rude. Mostly with Indians. They used to have plenty [of Indians] and... now they say they don t hire Indians. DAMMIKA, SRI LANKA On treatment of international students: Because we re international students... we don t get the respect sometimes. On intense workloads: I m getting a little tired because I m working all the time. I keep working and doing all the bins so... I m tired after all that. It s a risk to our health but they don t consider that because at the end of the day they need the job done. AYESHA, BANGLADESH On knowing her rights at work, and bullying: We don t know what our rights are... our bosses are sometimes rude and sometimes they try to bully us. One of my colleagues, he got sacked... because he was late one day. When you re working they create more problems for everyone. So it s pretty stressful. On discrimination: In terms of gender, there is a huge difference. Where I work, if there s an extra job they call the boys first, and if the boys are not there then they call me. 19

20 Exposing the underbelly of retail cleaning 20 The crisis in the retail cleaning industry can make it difficult for resposible cleaning contractors to turn a profit, encouraging others willing to break workplace laws by underpaying international students. Media reports and formal government investigations have both uncovered these practices. In 2008, an anonymous whistleblower told The Australian that Sydney shopping centre cleaners were being paid cash in hand, at lower than the legal minimum rates and with nothing paid for superannuation or WorkCover. Most of the cleaners they dealt with were international students working more hours than their visa allowed, making them vulnerable to exploitation. The insider told The Australian: The cleaners on night shift were mostly paid cash in hand. They usually got $12 an hour. 26 AAP news.com.au 4/10/2012 More recently, an investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman led to 53 Westfield shopping centre cleaners in Sydney, all employed by a cleaning contractor, being reimbursed $68,330. The Fair Work Ombudsman conducted the investigation after receiving complaints that CleanDomain was not paying wages, failing to issue pay-slips and was making cash-in-hand payments to some employees. 27 Cases pursued on behalf of retail cleaners by United Voice Victoria alone resulted in payments of around $125,000 between June 1, 2010 and August 31, These payments related to a range of issues, including not being paid for all of the hours worked, underpayment of wages, and unpaid superannuation and allowances. GUMTREE: WHERE EMPLOYERS FIND VULNERABLE WORKERS Cleaners who are not fully aware of their rights are the most vulnerable to exploitation and underpayment and, as we have seen, international students are a key part of that group. To expose the extent to which employers underpay cleaners like international students, an analysis of 40 job advertisements for cleaners in the retail sector on the Gumtree website was conducted through September. Thirteen advertisements included the pay rate, and further research found pay rates for another two. The abuse of workplace laws and underpayment of retail cleaners was immediately obvious. A CONTRACT FOR EXPLOITATION Half of the advertisements either mentioned an ABN was required or preferable, or the job was advertised as being on contract. Working on a contract means a cleaner can unwittingly be taking part in sham contracting. But even where the contract is a genuine one for services, the contractor who is the worker may not receive superannuation

21 and other key entitlements like penalty rates, annual leave and sick leave. They may also have to pay for equipment, insurance and administrative costs. To ensure they are being paid fairly, they must be paid compensation for these costs and for forgoing the usual entitlements. To determine whether or not these contracted workers were being underpaid, the advertised rate was compared to the casual Award rate (including relevant penalties), plus nine per cent for superannuation. But this still did not factor in any costs for accident insurance, equipment, administration, profit margin, etc. 28 So the following estimates of underpayment are conservative, and underpayment is likely to be greater. 93% LIKELY TO BE UNDERPAYING CLEANERS 29 Information was collected on pay rates, hours and days of work to determine relevant penalty rates and the nature of the employment or engagement contract, full-time, part-time or casual. This allowed the likely award rate to be determined, including any penalties for working unsociable hours. For contractor positions, the relevant casual pay rate plus nine per cent superannuation was used for comparison. 30 While there is no suggestion that the Gumtree ads are representative of all retail cleaning jobs advertised, the level of underpayments found were revealing: Fourteen of the 15 advertisements where the pay rate was known were likely to be underpaying cleaners 93 per cent of the advertised jobs in retail cleaning. Of cleaning work advertised as underpaid, the estimated average that cleaners would be underpaid by was $9.88 per hour or $139 per week. On average, these cleaners would receive only two thirds of what they should have been paid. Estimated underpayments ranged from around $2 per hour up to just over $21 per hour. The latter involved weekend work advertised at only $16 per hour with an ABN. This is already well below the ordinary full time Award rate, even before factoring in the weekend penalty rates and compensation for lack of leave entitlements or superannuation. Estimated underpayments ranged from around $40 per week to over $250 per week. In one ad, the employer was seeking a casual employee to work three hours per day for seven days a week which is already illegal for just $15 per hour, well below the legal minimum for working during the day on week days. But the employer was demanding the cleaner work unsociable hours, including some weekends, so the legal minimum was in fact much higher. In total, it was estimated that this cleaner was likely to be underpaid around $ a week and certainly should not be forced to work seven days in a row. The estimated proportion of their pay and legal compensations that cleaners answering these advertisements would miss out on ranged from 10 per cent to 57 per cent. But the exploitation on display in the pages of the Gumtree website were not limited to underpayment. One advertisement demanded a male cleaner while another didn t even attempt to hide its intentions to break the law: Pay in cash. It is impossible to know just how many international students take up the dubious opportunities offered in these ads. But with their targets likely to be exactly the kind of workers who are ignorant of their rights or unable to stand up for them, it s fair to say that international students would easily fall into their traps. 21

22 Conclusion: Welcome to Australia, but don t ask for respect 22 International students are at the heart of one of Australia s most important export industries. But they are worth so much more than that to our country: they help support our education system and play an enormous part in the richness and diversity of a multicultural community of which we are justly proud. International students, too, gain immeasurable benefits from coming to Australia. They receive an education that is the among the finest on offer anywhere in the world, while experiencing a new culture. But while they are here, international students are no different from the rest of us in at least one important regard: they need to work to support themselves and, often, their families. Cleaning our shopping centres has become one of the key ways for hard-working students to earn a living, while at the same time forging friendships for life and contributing to the Australian economy. But many fall foul of the crisis in the retail industry, a crisis caused by shopping centres demands for cheaper contracts. These demands force contractors to undercut rivals, and then intensify workloads, cut conditions and underpay their cleaners to make a profit. Unsure of their rights, lacking in confidence in standing up for their fair share or hampered by visa restrictions, many international students can be easily exploited by cleaning contractors. Both government and shopping centre owners could be considered to be in breach of their duty of care to international students by failing to educate them on their rights, and allowing exploitation to flourish. This report has uncovered some of the shameful practices employers use to make a profit, with the impact often falling on international students. They are frequently pressured into doing more and more work in less time, with half of the students interviewed saying they do not always have the time to do their jobs properly. Extreme workloads are the inevitable result, with over a third of international students stressed about their workloads. A third of international students also reported working extra hours for which they are not paid essentially working for nothing. Six of the 11 students interviewed had been paid incorrectly at least once, and three never received all the money they were owed. Some said they were not paid if they were asked to violate their visas by working more than 20 hours a week in term time. The international students surveyed worked as cleaners in our shopping centres for an average of just $ per week after tax money many depended on to make up all or much of their basic living costs. So it was unsurprising to find them suffering significant financial stress. Some 69.7 per cent had trouble coping with bills or debts and more than half faced terrible difficulties paying rent or mortgages. Two thirds even found it hard to pay for groceries. All these stresses are a direct result of a continued pursuit of cheaper cleaning contracts by the companies that own our major shopping centres. More subtle pressures are also at work in the retail cleaning industry, with some alarming aspects of workplace culture identified. A quarter of cleaners said their manager at times made

23 them feel they did not want to be represented by a union. A staggering 40 per cent suffered at the hands of rude or abusive bosses, nearly double the number of their colleagues who felt similarly mistreated. Racism and other forms of discrimination were also uncovered, with four of the 11 students interviewed reporting that managers or customers treated them differently according to their gender, their nationality or the colour of their skin. The survey, the interviews and the analysis of Gumtree advertisements reveal an industry in crisis, with rights of workers regularly ignored or violated. Many of these workers are international students, who are in many ways the workers most likely to be affected. This report highlights a genuine crisis in the retail cleaning industry, a crisis which shopping centre owners must address to put an end to problems like extreme workloads, bullying, underpayment and a culture of discrimination and racism. Shopping centre cleaners around Australia are campaigning to win justice, respect and an end to extreme workloads and low pay. The owners of our shopping centres can and must ensure respect and fair treatment for them and end this crisis by agreeing to the need for reform of the industry. By tackling the harsh realities of the retail cleaning industry, not least by ceasing to squeeze the value of their contracts, shopping centre owners can ensure the industry is a safe and rewarding one for all its workers including the many international students who play such an important role in our economy and our society. 23