Employee shouldn't be paying for MECIR, etc'
Hi Guys,
Just noticed a post about Wagga Air Centre requiring employees to pay for their own MECIR etc' while working for this outfit. THIS IS UNLAWFUL. Once you are an employee of a company, the company is required by law to pay for training, checks or tests that are required as part of the job. I have seen employers try to get around this by arguing that these 'employees' are in fact contractors and therefore required to pay their own way. They get employees to provide them with invoices, just like a contractor does, and do other things to make the relationship look like it's a contract situation but at the end of the day there are some tests that can easily be applied to work out whether this is a contractor relationship or an employee/employer relationship. And the fact is, in 95% of cases the test would show quite easily that the contractor relationship does not exist. I can elaborate if anyone is interested.
The other scenario that is mentioned is that the employee is considered an apprentice and therefore required to look after themself. Wrong. There is no such thing as an apprenticeship as a pilot.
The scary thing for the employer in this situation is that once an employee has left they have I think 7 years after their departure to redress any underpayment. So for 7 years a former employee might come after them seeking payment for the cost of MECIR's etc'. There is a legal process to go through here, but government agencies are very supportive of people who have clearly been exploited.