Employment
The wine industry employs people directly in winemaking activities and creates demand for the suppliers of grapes, cardboard and glass containers and services of wholesale traders, freight companies and marketing firms. It also has flow on effects to the accommodation, café and restaurant sector.
PLW has a small workforce relative to turnover as it purchases 98% of its grape intake and has outsourced its packaging and its distribution activities. During vintage more staff are employed to cope with the peak workload in the cellar and laboratory.
Workforce - Australia, UK & Continental Europe
Males: 50
Females: 46
Average age: 41 years
Staff turnover: 10%
Supplemented by 22 casuals in the cellar and 2 casual in the laboratory during vintage
Working Conditions
- Appointments to new positions, together with the engagement of staff to replace people who have left PLW employment, exposes the Company to new ideas, broader experience & additional expertise.
- Temporary staff are not used to avoid our employer obligations. We engage labour hire company staff for work which is subject to unpredictable timing such as peak hand labelling requirements.
- Balancing work responsibilities with family and community interests - vintage is a particularly busy time when employees work long hours and we strive to provide a family friendly work environment.
- Employees who take parental leave may be offered part time work if they choose not to return to work full time when the 12 month period following the birth of the child expires.
Training
- Employees are encouraged to improve their skills and qualifications PLW regularly provides OHSW and Environment Awareness training as well as support for individuals to qualify for truck and forklift driver’s licences, first aid and fire warden certification.
- Administration staff are encouraged to undertake accounting, computing, export documentation and office management courses.
- The local technical and further education college offers a course designed specifically for people employed in a cellar. A number of the cellar workers have completed this course successfully.
- The cellar door staff regularly meet with the winemakers to discuss and taste the range of wines. They have been trained in the responsible serving of alcohol to the public and in customer service also.
- The maintenance team participates in winery engineer conferences.
- The winemakers, grower liaison officer and laboratory technicians participate in wine industry technical sessions and seminars.
- Marketing staff attend wine industry marketing conferences.
- Finance staff attend seminars to maintain professional expertise.
- Personal development through study is encouraged and currently the IT Manager is undertaking study leading to a MBA qualification, an Office Worker is undertaking a degree in International Business and a Cellarhand is studying Wine Marketing.
Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (SEDEX)
PLW has joined SEDEX which connects wholesalers and retailers to their global suppliers to share ethical data and enable continuous improvement in ethical performance. The thrust of the SEDEX initiative is to monitor compliance with labour laws and OHSW policies and procedures.
