NZ Accredited Employer Process

The Accredited Employer pathway without question, makes the process easier for migrant staff to eventually gain residency. However, there are a number of hoops for the employer to jump through as well as conditions that need to be met to make residence possible. 

At present it is not a requirement for employers of migrants to become Accredited. However, sometime after July 2021 this will become a requirement for ALL employers of migrants, whether you employ 1 migrant worker or 100+. EVERY employer of migrant workers needs to become accredited. INZ indicates that this applies to around 22,000 businesses in New Zealand. Only accredited employers will be able to hire a migrant worker on the employer-assisted work visa. Once established, there will be 2 main accreditation levels:

• Standard accreditation — for employers who want to hire 5 or fewer migrant workers, and
• High-volume accreditation — for employers who want to hire 6 or more migrant workers

Currently there is only one level of accreditation available, which has a large requirement of documentation required in order to become an Accredited Employer. 

In order to begin processing an Accredited Employer application, there are some initial questions to answer such as:

1. Do you have one or more staff earning $79560+ not inclusive of accommodation or other benefits?
2. Do you have records of internal training, employee handbook, HR policies?
3. Do you use an outside entity for Health & Safety matters i.e., Rural Safe or Hazard Co?
4. Do you have timesheets and pay records for all staff for the last 3 months?

While we at CCR are eagerly awaiting updates on this important change to immigration policy, there are some simple steps you can take now in order to assist the process of becoming accredited once this change takes place. There are a number of documentation requirements that we will need to begin compiling such as:

• ACC Number
• IRD Number
• INZ Client Number
• Annual Reports
• Financial Statements (profit and loss, cash flow, balance sheet)
• Sets of accounts certified by an accountant
• GST Returns
• Investment Records
• HR Manager Details
• Timesheets and Payslips for 3 months
• Evidence of employing any staff on apprenticeship
• Training records for all internal training i.e., on the job
• Invoices, certificates of formal training
• Dates and invoices of previous advertising
• Updated Employment Agreements with relevant legislation
• HR Policies
• Employee Handbook
• Induction Procedures
• Health & Safety Meeting Minutes
• Accountant Signed Financial Documents
• Support Letter from Employer
• Consent & Agreement Terms
• What HR policies and processes does your organisation have?
• What training does your organisation provide for your New Zealand employees?
• How many current employees does your organisation have in New Zealand?
• How many of your employees are New Zealand citizens or residents?
• How many foreign workers are you likely to recruit in the next 12 months?
• In the last 12 months, has your organisation consulted on redundancies or made any staff redundant?
• Does your organisation have union representation in the workplace?

In order to satisfy Immigration New Zealand (INZ) re training, the employer needs to show a planned schedule of training with an external ITO provider in different areas of work the employee would be doing and/or pathway showing continuous training. INZ want to see that this is in place, rather than some training that may happen in the future. The provider you are using may be accredited with NZQA or they are a private training establishment (PTE) not receiving funding from the government. They could be a PTE getting accreditation from Primary ITO. There needs to be a formalised agreement for this entity as the preferred training provider.