Overview

• The Fair Work Commission ruled that labour hire staff at BHP’s Saraji, Peak Downs and Goonyella Riverside coal mines must receive the same hourly rates and conditions as directly employed workers.
• The decision covers 2,200 contract workers who stand to gain an average $30,000 annual pay rise at a cost of about $66 million to BHP.
• BHP’s argument that the affected workers provided a service rather than supplying labour was rejected when the commission found its in-house labour hire operation was under the company’s direction and control.
• The Mining and Energy Union and Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union brought the case under the 2023 same job, same pay reforms and secured the landmark ruling.
• Employers and industry associations estimate applying the ruling across all BHP labour hires could cost up to $1.3 billion a year and are calling on federal parliament to tighten the service-contractor exemption.