Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme and Vietnam Labour Mobility Arrangement

All employees under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme and the Vietnam Labour Mobility Arrangement (VLMA) have the same workplace entitlements and protections as other employees in Australia.

On this page:

Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme overview

The PALM scheme allows eligible Australian businesses to hire workers from 9 Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste when there aren’t enough local workers available.

The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) jointly administer the PALM scheme.

The PALM scheme has 2 types of workers: seasonal (short-term) workers and longer-term workers.

For more information about the scheme, visit the Australian Government's PALM scheme website.

Vietnam Labour Mobility Arrangement overview

The VLMA supports workers from Vietnam to undertake short and long-term agricultural related work in Australia.

Only eligible PALM scheme employers may be able to hire workers under the VLMA but Vietnam isn’t a full participant in the PALM scheme.

For more information about the VLMA, visit the Australian Government's VLMA page.

Entitlements and protections for Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme and Vietnam Labour Mobility Arrangement participants

Employees participating in the PALM scheme and the VLMA have the same workplace entitlements and protections as all other employees in Australia.

Employees have minimum entitlements under the National Employment Standards. They may also have entitlements from an award or an agreement.

Watch our short video for information about working in Australia.

Employment information statements

Employers have to give every new employee a copy of the Fair Work Information Statement (FWIS) before, or as soon as possible after, starting a job.

Employers also have to give every new casual employee a copy of the Casual Employment Information Statement (CEIS) at the same time.

When an employee enters a new fixed term contract, they must also be given a copy of the Fixed Term Contract Information Statement (FTCIS).

These documents give new employees information about their conditions of employment.

Pay

There are minimum pay rates that employees must be paid, based on the work they do.

Use our Pay and Conditions Tool to find minimum pay rates.

Pieceworkers in the horticulture industry can also find information on our Horticulture Showcase about Pay and piece rates, including our Piecework rules have changed information sheet.

Our piecework information sheet has been translated into Pacific and Timorese languages and Vietnamese to help you understand your workplace rights and the obligations of growers. You can find these at Horticulture Showcase - migrant workers.

Leave

Employees can take leave for many reasons, including to go on a holiday, because they are sick or to take care of sick family members. This is called taking leave.

Leave entitlements are different for full-time, part-time and casual employees. Find out more about the different types of employees.

Work out annual leave using our Leave Calculator.

Find out more about:

Record keeping

Employers must keep accurate and complete records for all employees and provide them with a pay slip within 1 working day of pay day.

Pay slips and records of hours worked can help employees work out the correct pay and entitlements. Our Record my hours app can help employees easily keep track of their work hours.

Find out more at Pay slips and record-keeping.

Deductions

Taking money out of an employee’s pay before it is paid to them is called a deduction.

There are limited situations when an employer can make a deduction.

Find out more at Deducting pay and related issues.

Our resources

Arrival briefing

We give briefings to PALM scheme and VLMA employees when they arrive in Australia to start work. These briefings are an introduction to workplace entitlements and protections in Australia. If you’re a PALM scheme Approved Employer, you can contact us at PALM@fwo.gov.au to arrange a briefing for your new employees.

Short videos

We have short videos in Pacific and Timorese languages, and Vietnamese to help you understand your entitlements and protections in Australian workplaces.

Watch our Language storyboards.

PALM scheme fact sheet

The PALM scheme fact sheet includes information for PALM scheme employees about workplace entitlements and protections, how we can help and useful resources.

Download the English Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme fact sheet English Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme fact sheet.

We also offer the fact sheet in the following languages:

Language help in Vietnamese

We have information and resources in Vietnamese available on our Language help page.

You can also translate other pages on our website into Vietnamese using our automatic translator tool. It’s powered by Microsoft Translator and is available on most of our website pages. To use the translator, choose ‘Vietnamese’ from the language drop-down menu at the top of any page.

How we can help

We’re here to help employers and employees understand their workplace rights and obligations.

An employee can't get into trouble or have their visa cancelled for contacting us to ask for information about their pay or other entitlements.

The Australian Government has introduced the Strengthening Reporting Protections Pilot and Workplace Justice Visa Pilot. These new laws strengthen reporting protections for eligible visa holders experiencing workplace exploitation, allowing workers to seek help without fear of visa cancellation. For more information visit, Visa protections – pilot programs.

For practical steps on how to fix any workplace issues which might happen – including how to ask for our help – visit Fixing a workplace problem.

If you need our help, you can:

Related information