- Laura Denby is on a temporary skilled visa
- Didn’t receive a payout after workplace went into liquidation
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A British expat who missed out on tens of thousands of dollars in entitlements has launched a petition to overhaul ‘unfair’ workplace laws.
Laura Denby was among 100 staff let go when Sydney IT firm Xam Consulting went into liquidation without notice last September.
Unlike her colleagues, the IT business analyst was on a temporary skilled visa, which made her ineligible for any severance payments for the five years she worked there.
The federal government’s Fair Entitlements Guarantee scheme guarantees that Australian citizens, permanent residents, and some visa holders get unpaid wages, redundancy pay, and other entitlements if their employer goes bankrupt.
Despite Ms Denby having moved to Australia six years prior and the fact that her job was sponsoring her skilled visa application for permanent residency, she didn’t receive a payout under the scheme.
While her colleagues were paid out roughly $40,000 each, she was left feeling ‘gutted’ with no money, no job and no residency sponsor.
She has launched a Change.org petition lobbying for workplace reforms in the hope that no other visa worker goes through a similar ordeal.
Ms Denby said it was ‘unfair’ she was put in such a difficult financial position when she had already begun the process of becoming a Australian citizen.
Laura Denby did not get any entitlements or a payout when her employer went into liquidation
‘I wasn’t earning any money and I just signed on a new lease at my apartment, which I couldn’t afford to break,’ she told Nine News.
‘We didn’t have any clue it was going to happen.
‘As a skilled worker, we have to sign a form to say we’re a resident for tax purposes …. but then we’re not receiving any entitlements when times fall tough on us.’
After losing her job, Ms Denby became so stressed and sick that she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.
She had been planning to buy her first home and start a family once her permanent residency had been granted.
The British expat was forced to withdraw her visa application and restart the whole application again.
Ms Dendy has an 18-month wait before she gets back to where she was in the process.
She managed to find a new job within weeks of being let go, thanks to a contact at Xam Consulting.
Laura Denby was not entitled to any payments because she was on a temporary skilled visa
Ms Denby wants temporary workers to be included in the Fair Entitlements Guarantee scheme as soon as possible.
‘Migrant workers contribute to Australia’s economy but are excluded from the Fair Entitlements Guarantee (FEG) scheme. If their employer becomes insolvent, they receive no support. This is unfair and needs to change,’ she wrote on the petition.
‘Their exclusion discriminates against individuals who are in the process of becoming full-fledged members of the Australian workforce.’
The petition has already garnered more than 500 signatures within a fortnight.
A Department of Employment and Workplace Relations spokesperson confirmed that migrant workers are only entitled to be paid any owed employee entitlements in priority to other unsecured creditors ‘provided funds are available in the insolvent estate’.
