Migrant Exploitation.

Over the past few weeks the New Zealand media have reported on the shocking allegations of migrants paying for job offers from accredited employers. Migrants are arriving in New Zealand only to find they don’t have a job at all. Stuck in New Zealand with little to no money or access to any social welfare, they have been forced to live in squalid conditions with up to 30 in a three bedroom house.

How is this happening?

When an employer wishes to support a work visa, they must be accredited and have a valid job check. To be accredited, employers must be financially viable and compliant with employment and immigration law. Job checks declare the skills and qualifications required, review employment documentation (such as employment agreements), and, in most cases, require the employer to advertise the position to prove no New Zealanders can fill their vacant positions. A job check can include multiple vacancies in the same position an employer is trying to fill. If approved for a job check, an employer is given one job token for each vacancy they stated in their job check. Employers then issue job tokens to migrants so they can apply for a work visa.

Employers with high volume, third-party or franchisee accreditation have no limit on how many migrants they can support under the accredited scheme. It appears the migrants have been purchased a job token from an offshore unlicensed agent. Subsequently, the work visa applications were approved, and the migrant arrived in New Zealand a few weeks later, only to have worked for a few weeks or that the job never existed in the first place.

How did it go wrong?

The Accredited Employer Work Visa was only introduced in July 2022, as New Zealand’s borders reopened after the Covid-19 pandemic. Before this, employers did not need to be accredited except labour-hire companies operating in Canterbury. New Zealand’s low unemployment rate is impacting the productivity of the economy. At the same time, Immigration New Zealand implemented a new online portal, ADEPT, which was having major technical issues and outages, including documents and applications disappearing. Immigration New Zealand had a new immigration policy to grapple with, a surge of accreditation applications from employers desperate for workers and multiple IT system failures.

Media at the time were commenting on delays and IT issues, resulting in pressure to speed up their decision-making process. Immigration New Zealand took a light touch approach, meaning most accreditation applications required an employer to declare their financial and legal compliance with little to no evidence. It appears that, sadly, a small percentage of employers took advantage of this light touch approach.

What to do if you suspect a migrant is being exploited?

The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment define migrant exploitation as behaviour that causes or increases the risk of material harm to the economic, social, physical or emotional well-being of a migrant worker. This includes breaches of minimum employment standards or breaches of health and safety and immigration laws. This excludes minor and insignificant breaches that are not constant and easily remedied.

Anyone can report migrant exploitation and can do so online at https://reportmigrantexploitation.employment.govt.nz or call 0800 200 088.

Migrants might be eligible for a Migrant Exploitation Protection Work Visa for up to six months. This visa allows a migrant to work for any employer for up to six months, giving them time to find a new employer who may wish to support a new Accredited Employer Work Visa application.

What should accredited employers be doing?

Apart from being compliant with employment and immigration law, accredited employers should ensure migrants are working according to the conditions in the employment agreements and visas. This includes being paid the correct remuneration, conducting tasks in their job descriptions and working in the region/s where the visa has been approved. Employers should have completed the Employment New Zealand employer modules and migrants employee modules on paid time. Employers should keep records of wages and time, their settlement activities and completion of employer and employee modules.

If an employer is using an offshore recruitment agency, do your research and conduct your own checks on migrant job applicants. If possible, use a reputable New Zealand recruitment agency that has experience recruiting offshore.

Summary

The overwhelming majority of employers do the right by their migrant staff. Migrant exploitation should be reported to Employment New Zealand. Accredited employers should comply with accreditation obligations, ensure their migrant workers are working to the conditions of their visas and maintain compliance records. We can help if you suspect migrant exploitation or are an accredited employer who wants to make sure they are meeting their accreditation requirements. Contact us today for further information.