By ALEX EASTON

aeaston@northernstar.com.au

THE Federal employer watchdog investigating workers' complaints against the Northern Cooperative Meat Company yesterday sent one of its agents to Casino.

The Office of Workplace Services was ordered on Tuesday to investigate complaints against the company, including claims that workers must report to work when ill and 'be assessed' by management or lose pay, even if they have a doctor's certificate.

Workers also complained:

Any employee who misses a day at work, for any reason, must be inter- viewed by a panel of company representatives who will decide whether they will be paid, and that failure to attend an interview would result in automatic non-payment.

That leave had been cancelled and workers were being ordered to do overtime every day, and being threatened with suspension or loss of pay if they refused.

The company said it wanted to bring in guest workers from Brazil and if work slowed the locals would be stood down.

Company general manager Garry Burridge has rejected the complaints, saying they are false. He said cancelled leave and required overtime stemmed from the drought and the need to slaughter cattle before they died in the paddocks.

The interviews were needed because workers were handling food and the company needed to ensure workers who had been ill were safe to return to work.

Federal Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews ordered the employer watchdog, the Office of Workplace Services, to investigate the complaints on Tuesday and yesterday the office confirmed it had sent an investigator to the meatworks.

If the company is found guilty of breaching workplace laws it could face fines of up to $30,000 for each breach.