Accredited Employers – audits underway

Immigration New Zealand have started random desktop audits of accredited employers. An Immigration Officer may be in touch to request documents from your business including:

• Time and wage records of migrant workers.
• Evidence the business is viable and ongoing (financial records etc).
• Evidence migrant workers were provided with settlement support information, including time at work to complete Employment NZ online courses.
• Documents to show hiring managers completed mandatory Employment NZ online courses. 

At this stage, unless there is serious evidence of non-compliance, Immigration NZ is taking an educative approach. Around 36 employers are under investigation for potential fraud or migrant exploitation so no doubt the educative approach will change at some stage to a more strict regime.  

Make sure you have your house in order to keep accreditation if employing and retaining migrant workers is key to your business. If your accreditation expires or is cancelled, your migrant workforce may be impacted. Avoid the drama. If you have doubts take immigration advice now.

The Malcolm Pacific Immigration employer online tool helps your business and migrant workers keep mandatory records in one place. It has settlement information for migrant workers allowing them to better understand working and living in New Zealand plus meet government regulations. If your business is not using this tool, contact our Employer team today.

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