Queensland’s new Labour Hire Licensing Bill casts a very wide net.
Given the broad definitions of provider and labour hire services set out in Queensland’s Labour Hire Licensing Bill 2017, introduced into Parliament on 25 May 2017, it will be interesting to see the extent to which common service entity arrangements for professional firms and corporate groups will be affected. The definition runs:
A person (a provider) provides labour hire services if, in the course of carrying on a business, the person supplies, to another person, a worker to do work.
The definition does not require that the business that is being carried on actually be a labour hire business in a sense that one might immediately recognise – merely that a worker is supplied by the putative labour hire provider in the course of whatever business it does conduct.
Many service entity arrangements are therefore likely to come under that umbrella; and they may be far removed from anything do with the labour hire industry as it is commonly understood. The service entities of medical, legal, and accounting practices may be just a few examples.
However, the Bill at sub-clause 7(3), does provide for the making of exceptions by regulations.
Get ready for a long list of regulations!
Recruiters' Casebook 