With all the increasing cases of ill treatment, and unfair practices. Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has implemented changes to its AEWV category. We have spoken about these earlier, but thought that we will highlight them in one place , to benefit prospective employees and employers.
Removal of 90 day Trial periods: Beginning October 29, 2023, accredited employers can no longer include 90 day trail periods in employment agreements when hiring under AEWV.The change aims to promote fairness and encourage hiring migrants for legitimate labor needs or skills gaps. Job checks should not contain trial periods. Any Employer who is found to be using this- may have their accreditation revoked.
AEWV Job Check Application: Any AEWV job check application which has been submitted will be rejected if they contain an employment agreement with a trial period, regardless of the submission date. However, this rule excludes applications based on previously approved job checks or migrants who have applied for an AEWV based on a job check approved before Oct 29, 2023
AEWV Employer Accreditation updates: Accreditation of an en employer may be suspended if INZ or another regulatory body actively verifies and finds that the employer is contravening any compliance with immigration , employment and business standards. This applies to all compliance related issues. An employer is also not allowed to transfer any costs like advertising or compliance costs to the prospective employee.
AEWV Labour hire : There are threshold changes happening in this space. Accredited employers who are labour hire firms must ensure that at least 35% of their labour hire workforce consists of NZ citizens and residents in full time employment . This represents an increase from the previous 15% requirement. Failure to meet this , will result in job check failure. Existing employers maintaining the 15% threshold won't lose their current accreditation , but must meet the new threshold for new Job Checks. Further the increased threshold will only apply to labour hire employers who are placing, or intending to place, AEWV holders in the following occupations:
Bricklayer
Builder’s labourer
Building insulation installer
Carpenter
Carpenter and joiner
Concreter
Construction rigger
Crane chaser
Drainage, sewerage and stormwater labourer
Driller’s assistant
Earthmoving labourer
Fencer
Fibrous plasterer
Fitter (General)
Floor finisher
Glazier
Home improvement installer
Joiner
Lagger
Linemaker
Metal fabricator
Painting trades worker
Paving and surfacing labourer
Plumber’s assistant
Railway track worker
Roof plumber
Roof tiler
Scaffolder
Solid plasterer
Steel Fixer
Stonemason
Structural steel erector
Surveyor’s assistant
Wall and floor tiler
Talk to us today for more details and lets work together towards your journey and compliance