The Victorian government will offer businesses a cash incentive to hire Murray Goulburn workers retrenched during the company’s recent round of cuts, a move welcomed by families facing financial uncertainty. 

A spokesman for Victorian treasurer Tim Pallas yesterday confirmed workplaces that employed staff laid off from the milk giant’s Rochester and Kiewa factories would be eligible for payments of up to $5000. 

The back to work scheme was announced in May last year and will continue until next June, unless the allocated $5 million runs out.

Payments of $5000 will be awarded for each full-time, ongoing job given to an embattled dairy industry worker, while ongoing, part-time offers of work will reap a $3750 benefit for the employer.

“It shows the government will always stand behind our rural communities, and we won't let any farmer or community member go it alone,” Mr Pallas said.

The Bendigo Advertiser understands Murray Goulburn employees have been given a tentative end date, with the first wave of lay-offs expected to take effect in late July, although that will not be confirmed until six weeks’ prior to an employee’s last day. 

All production will cease in Rochester by mid-February, less than year after the processor announced the closure of three factories. 

The spouses of two Murray Goulburn employees, both of whom asked to remain anonymous, said a lack of certainty about when they would finish at the Rochester site made planning for their family’s future difficult.

“(There’s) still too many questions and not enough answers,” one said. 

An inability to start work immediately made their spouses unattractive to potential bosses, she believed. 

But both agreed the government’s Back to Work scheme could convince workplaces to employ their partners. 

​A spokesman for Murray Goulburn said the company was providing “appropriate” employment supports to its retrenched workers. 

“This included advice regarding expected individual last days of work, opportunities for redeployment at other MG sites, outplacement services and potential entitlements,” the spokesman said. 

“MG is acutely aware of the impact our decisions will have on our stakeholders, including the communities in which we operate.”