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Why undocumented immigrant workers should have workplace rights

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Stephen Clibborn
Stephen Clibborn*
Affiliation:
The University of Sydney, Australia
*
Stephen Clibborn, Discipline of Work and Organisational Studies, Business School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Email: stephen.clibborn@sydney.edu.au
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Abstract

There exists a gap at the intersection of Australia’s immigration and employment laws that has serious implications for employees, employers and policy. Australia is host to a large and growing population of immigrants working without authorisation, described as the most significant problem facing Australian immigration authorities. These undocumented workers are often exploited by employers through wage theft, sexual harassment and unsafe working conditions. Yet, they are not entitled to protection under Australia’s employment laws. In addition to the implications for workers, there are broader policy concerns arising from the current system of regulation that effectively rewards employers who are equally in breach of immigration law. Left uncorrected, current regulation may in fact be encouraging a ‘race to the bottom’ for employment standards and increasing undocumented immigrant work. As well as highlighting the inadequacy of the existing regulatory framework, potential avenues for addressing this are explored.

Keywords

J8Employment conditionsindustrial/employment relations policyinformal economylow-paid workersmigrant workers
Type
Articles
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 26 , Issue 3: Special Collection: Women’s Agency at Work , September 2015 , pp. 465 - 473
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2015

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