Employers will need mandatory accreditation to employ skilled migrants from July 4 under new rule changes which could have major implications for New Zealand’s automotive industry.
“With the lowest unemployment in New Zealand’s history and literally thousands of automotive jobs vacant, this is a game changer,” says Automotive Employment NZ founder and managing director Russell Phillips who features in an Autotalk webinar.
“This means there will be hundreds of employers who employ skilled migrants who will no longer be able to employ them if the employees visa expires and do not gain mandatory Immigration NZ accreditation,” he explains.
“They will also lose access to employ all skilled migrants in NZ or offshore if they are not accredited.”
Phillips say the Government first announced changes would be coming in September 2019 and has been working on the project since with the new employer-led visa process being launched on July 4 2022.
“But employers have work to do before then to get ready,” he adds.
A new temporary work visa, the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) will replace the Essential Skills Work Visa and Talent (Accredited Employer) Work Visa, when it launches on July 4.
Employers who want to hire migrants on an AEWV will need to be accredited and submit a job check for relevant roles before they can hire a migrant, Phillips says.
The employer will pay for accreditation and the job check. The migrant will pay for the actual visa, he explains. When hiring skilled migrants through Automotive Employment NZ we will pay for the job check.
“Even employers who are currently accredited will need to apply for the new accreditation.”
There will be different types of accreditation depending on how many migrants an employer will require in a year.
Extra rules and different fees also apply for franchisees and those using controlling third parties such as labour hire companies.
To become accredited an employer must meet minimum requirements, including:
• Being in a sound financial position
• Having no recent history of regulatory non-compliance
• Being up-to-date with employment law, including human resources (HR) processes, health and safety
• Having settlement support activities in place.
At the job check stage there are now new requirements for what must be in a job advertisement, Phillips points out.
“Unless you are paying twice the median wage all roles must be advertised. The median wage will rise to $27.76 on July 4.”
