Internal labour hire arrangements and the Queensland labour hire licensing regime – are yours caught?

The Labour Hire Licensing Act 2017 (Qld) commences on Monday 16 April 2018, and requires providers of labour hire to other entities in Queensland to be licensed. The Act itself does not differentiate as to whether the supply of labour is to a related entity or not, which means internal labour hire arrangements are caught by the Act.

On Friday 6 April 2018, the Labour Hire Licensing Regulation 2018 was released. One of the regulations appears designed to exempt internal labour hire arrangements from the new rules, but does not go far enough and will only exempt some. This means many internal labour hire arrangements are still caught and the providers must be licensed.

What must you do now?

Labour hire providers caught by the regime have 60 days from the commencement of the legislation to apply for a licence.

The Act provides very high penalties (up to $378,000 for corporations) for breaches.

Any business providing or utilising labour hire arrangements must:

• scrutinise the arrangement and the new rules and establish whether the entity providing the labour hire must be licensed; and
• if licensing is required, apply before Friday 15 June 2018.

For more information on the new rules click here or contact a member of our team to discuss.

Cooper Grace Ward is running a workshop on related party dealings on 10 May 2018, and these new rules are one area that we will discuss. Click here for more information on that workshop.