35 Hours is the Minimum Hours Required in a Week to Count 7 Days – MYTH
There is often a lot of confusion around hours worked and days counted in a week, 35 hours is regarded as the minimum required to obtain a full working week be granted 7 days work. Immigration denies there is any cut off at all, they claim that as long as the employer views the work your completing as full time all 7 days in a week will count. I see no reason why a 30 hour week of working 6 hours a day Monday to Friday cannot be counted as 7 days if this is the industry standard for this role. Check out the Home Affairs website where it depicts an example of someone working 30 hours a week for 6 months is granted a third year visa. If this general rule is followed the work can be completed over multiple sessions on different farms around Australia.
https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/work-holiday-417/specified-work
Below we have quoted information we have received from Gale Lalor, Acting Assistant Secretary, Immigration and Citizen Services Group. To sum up what she is saying, effectively if your employer believes you are working full time for them, then there is no minimum hours for a full day.
“To meet the three months’ specified work requirement, applicants must work for the same number of days that a full-time employee in that job would normally work in a three month (88 calendar day) period. Note that the work does not have to be full time, or be performed in a continuous period.
All WHV workers, not just those working full time, can count rest days as part of the 88 calendar days. Put simply, in most circumstances, applicants can include two notional rest days in the 88 calendar days for every five days worked.
The department recognises that there is a range of circumstances affecting what constitutes a normal full day in each eligible industry, especially in the agricultural industries. For this reason, the policy does not prescribe the minimum hours for a normal or ‘full’ day.
As a general guide, if the employer reasonably considers that an applicant has completed a normal full day of work for that industry, then the departmental decision maker may be generally be satisfied to count that day of work toward the three months requirement. Note that in relation to piecework, special provisions apply. Provided the working holiday maker is on a valid piecework agreement, and submits a copy with their visa application, then any day on which they have worked and been paid will be counted as a day.”
Visit our “Complete Guide to Farm Work in Australia” for more info.
Paying For a Job in Australia is Illegal – MYTH
This myth is repeated all over social media, especially by European backpackers. EU law is different and paying for a job is illegal. Here in Australia however that isn’t the case, while there are laws restricting recurring payments and taking payments before the job is secured in general there is no law against employment agencies charging workers for jobs. The legislation is available here and the relevant part I will post below.
Can I only pick fruit? – MYTH
By far the most popular job role to obtain a second or third year visa in Australia is fruit picking, this is by no means the only job role that satisfies the specified regional work, there is just a hell of a lot of fruit that needs to be picked in Australia. Other jobs include feeding and herding cattle, construction, landscaping plus many more so check out the Home Affairs website for all the details. Be wary of geographical location as this can have an impact on the whether the job is eligible or not, it has to count as a rural area, get all the details on the Home Affairs website.
https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/work-holiday-417/specified-work
Accommodation Included – Rarely True
If you’re lucky some jobs will come hand in hand with accommodation which will solve many of your problems, however really only the case if you’re working on smaller farms in particularly rural areas. There is a fairly large number of working hostels that offer jobs on local farms on arrival, but this is often expensive for what you’re getting, but sorts a job and place to live nonetheless. These are often are situated in the areas where a large number of jobs are offered in peak seasons for fruit and vegetable related jobs.
88 Days Will Only Take 3 Months – Partially True
The things that catches a huge number of people out is thinking they can complete 88 days of farm in 3 months, in reality this is far from the truth. This can be the case if you are extremely fortunate, however always factor in extra time to allow for travel, the job to start of unexpected days off. In some job roles such as fruit picking, significant delays can occur if fruit isn’t ripe or the weather isn’t right, so to be on the safe side get cracking with your farm work earlier than you think.
I Can’t Get Fired from Farm Work – Huh?.. Nah
Lastly, when you secure a job you might think your 88 days are in the bag, it’s just a matter of time. Again this is definitely not true, don’t forget you are doing a job and getting paid for it by someone for which this farm work is their livelihood so will not keep you on if you perform lower than their expectations. You could end up fired before you know and then you’re back to square one looking for a job!
Always keep your wits about you when completing your 88 days, be aware of what is happening around you and always watch out for scammers!
The 88th Day 