Illustrative photograph. Not a specific Orchard Tech workplace or a named PALM worker.
Last reviewed: 29 August 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice. Pay, hours and deductions follow the Fair Work Act, the applicable award or agreement, and the PALM deed. Check Fair Work and the live PALM grievance policy.
PALM scheme workers are employees in Australia. The Fair Work Ombudsman PALM scheme page states that people on the PALM scheme (and the Vietnam Labour Mobility Arrangement) have the same workplace entitlements and protections as other employees. That includes the National Employment Standards, and whatever extra entitlements sit in an award or an enterprise agreement. A PALM visa does not create a separate, lower wage system.
What employers must give new workers
Fair Work requires every new employee to receive the Fair Work Information Statement before, or as soon as possible after, they start. Casual employees also need the Casual Employment Information Statement. PALM workers in horticulture may be full-time, part-time or casual depending on the engagement. Piecework, if used, still has to follow the Horticulture Award rules that apply at the time — including the minimum hourly wage guarantee and recording of hours for pieceworkers that the Fair Work Commission built into the award from 28 April 2022. See Orchard Tech’s fruit picker pay article for current award examples, and do not treat that article as a substitute for the award text.
Scheme-level grievances
Separate from Fair Work, DEWR runs a PALM scheme grievance management policy for unresolved conflicts between workers and employers. A grievance lodgement form is on the PALM scheme site. The scheme’s FAQs say the policy is meant to be fair, accessible, responsive and efficient, and that it is reviewed. Use the current form. Do not tell a worker that “PALM issues stay in-house”.
DEWR also says it monitors employers through site visits (virtual or in person, announced or unannounced, including accommodation) and through regular reporting, including analysis of pay data.
Who to call
- Pay, hours, leave, deductions, dismissal: Fair Work Ombudsman 13 13 94 (interpreter 13 14 50).
- Scheme welfare, visa-linked employment, portal issues: PALM scheme 1800 51 51 31 or palm@dewr.gov.au.
- Immediate danger: 000.
- Victorian labour hire licensing questions (hosts and providers in Victoria): Labour Hire Authority, 1300 545 200. Orchard Tech’s licence is VICLHL06235. NSW has no state labour hire licensing scheme.
For workers
Keep copies of your contract, visa grant, payslips and any deduction authorities. If you were charged for a visa, flight or housing, ask for the written basis. Scheme rules and the Fair Work Act both constrain deductions. Compare PALM with Working Holiday visa work in Orchard Tech’s PALM scheme vs Working Holiday visa article if you are choosing a pathway — that is a different visa, not a different set of workplace laws.
Sources checked 29 August 2026: Fair Work Ombudsman PALM scheme page (as indexed); PALM scheme FAQs (monitoring, grievances, Horticulture Award piecework note); PALM scheme contact page.
