New changes allow low-paid workers to bring families, National expresses concern
By Gurbir Singh:
Govt is making changes to the way employers recruit some migrants for temporary work in New Zealand. The changes to the employer-assisted work visa will be introduced in stages, and fully rolled out between now and 2021.
Under the new changes announced today, low-paid migrants would be able to bring families here.
All employers will have to be accredited before they can recruit a temporary foreign worker under the Govt’s new work visa framework.
Under the new system, migrant workers can apply for only one type of employer-assisted temporary work visa, the Temporary Work Visa, and replaces the current six work visa categories.
The first set of changes will happen on 7 October 2019 and will only affect Talent Accredited Employers.
Two employer schemes will be removed namely, approval in principle (AIP) before an employer hires workers on an Essential Skills Work Visa, and accreditation as a Talent Accredited Employer.
Other work visas and employer schemes such as the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Scheme and working holiday visas are not impacted by these changes.
Read the mixed reactions here: https://www.newsviews.co.nz/work-visa-changes-evokes-mixed-reactions/
In the new changes, the government will:
*develop a new employer-led visa application process
*introduce a new temporary work visa that replaces 6 existing work visas: Essential Skills , Work to Residence – Long Term Skills Shortage List Occupations, Work to Residence – Talent (Accredited Employer), Approval in Principle, Silver Fern Job Search, and Silver Fern Practical Experience
*be using the level of pay to categorise a job in place of the existing skill bands. From mid-2020, Govt will not use ANZSCO in this assessment and instead use only the rate of pay. High-paid jobs will be defined as those that pay at or above the median wage, and low-paid jobs are those that pay below the median wage.
*strengthen the labour market test for low-paid jobs with open access for high-paid jobs in rural regions and lists in cities. Employers offering a high-paid job outside Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin will not have to do a labour market test. Employers in these cities will still need to undertake a labour market test for any job they offer, unless it is on a skills shortage list.
*introduce sector agreements to facilitate access to migrants for targeted sectors
*reinstate the right for low-paid workers to bring their families to New Zealand on visitor visas. From mid-2020, low-paid migrant workers will be able to support family visas. Their partners and children younger than school age can apply for Visitor Visas and school-age children can apply for student visas for the duration of the work visa.
From 2021, employers wishing to employ migrant workers on the new temporary work visa will use a 3-step process.
– It will be mandatory for all employers to be accredited before they can hire migrants on the new work visa
– The job is paid in line with the New Zealand market rate and, in some cases, will include a labour market test to ensure local workers are not available.
– When the worker applies for a visa, they must show they meet standard character, identity and health requirements, as well showing they have the skills to do the job they have been offered.
The changes aim to improve how New Zealand’s temporary workforce operates by ensuring that:
*migrant workers are only recruited for genuine labour shortages
*regional and sector differences in the labour market are recognised when migrant workers are employed
*employers are encouraged to employ and train more New Zealanders.
Some of the new visa requirements and processes will remain the same.
– People who hold visas based on lower-skilled work will still have to leave New Zealand for a 1-year stand down period after they have been working for 3 years.
– The new visa will still have conditions specifying an employer, job and location, and a visa holder will still have to get a variation of conditions to change any of these.
If you are working in New Zealand on a temporary work visa your current visa is valid until it expires, according to the MBIE notification.
Meanwhile, National Party’s Immigration Spokesperson, Stuart Smith has overall welcomed the streamlining of visas to one single visa.
Smith however, has raised some concerns, including impact on small businesses, and increasing the annual salary requirement.
In an exclusive statement to NewsViews, Smith asks “How will low paid workers support their families if we reinstate the right for low-paid workers to bring their families to New Zealand on visitor visas?”
National’s Spokesperson Smith is also concerned that “the costs of becoming accredited to hire temporary migrant workers may impact small businesses if costs are high.”
Not only that, ” Increasing the annual salary requirement and removing the option to get a Permanent Resident Visa if you apply for a Talent (Accredited Employer) Resident Visa may be a sign the Government is trying to reduce the amount of options for people to get permanent residency,” he adds.
Stuart Smith is also not sure “What these sector agreements will look like – who will represent each sector during negotiations? How will the views of all businesses in each sector be represented? Will the Government put pressure on different sectors to meet their demands for fair pay agreements? “
Answers to these and many more questions will only be known once the Govt comes out with more details as time progresses.
It may be recalled that in 2017, the former National-led Government had placed restriction on lower-paid workers bringing their families to New Zealand, now reversed in today’s announcement.
New Zealand First, however, has applauded the announcement as “New Zealand First has consistently advocated for the need to focus our efforts on training and employing New Zealanders in our workforce wherever possible,” says New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters.
Key immigration statistics :
At the end of May 2019, in New Zealand there were:
* 237,339 work visa holders, of whom 30,000 were on post study work visas – up 67,000 or 72 per cent on five years ago
*31,874 people were approved for residence
* Just over one in four people in workforce were migrants
*10,222 student visa holders (up 22,700 or 22 per cent on five years ago), of whom 73,814 were full fee-paying students (Source: MBIE)
– from NewsViews
