The government has launched a review of the Accredited Employer Work Visa scheme to ensure compliant dairy farmer employers are not being disadvantaged.
Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said she has made temporary adjustments ahead of calving to the job-check criteria required to employ dairy farm workers who meet the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) Level 5 standard, while Immigration NZ is prioritising the processing of applications for dairy workers.
Stanford said the coalition government had to act swiftly to adjust settings for the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) when it was faced with soaring net migration, lower demand for low-skilled workers and increased migrant exploitation.
Dairy farm employers have complained that the new settings are so strict they cannot recruit or renew visas for existing staff, something the minister accepts.
“However, I acknowledge that the urgency in which we had to make changes meant that regional variations were not able to be reflected,” she said in written responses to questions.
The review will ensure the AEWV is balanced so compliant employers can hire migrant workers when there is a genuine shortage.
“This review will include removing the median wage threshold, considering what assessments can reasonably be streamlined and whether there would be value in different settings for different regions and sectors.”
Stanford said she has agreed to temporarily adjust the job-check advertising requirements for Level 5 dairy cattle farm positions, which should accelerate the processing of applications.
“Employers for dairy cattle farm roles only need to advertise roles for 14 days, rather than the usual 21-day requirement for roles at that level.”
This applies to applications submitted before July 14 while Immigration NZ is prioritising the allocation of job check and AEWV applications for dairy cattle farm workers until August 1.
“These changes are designed to shorten the recruitment process, ensuring that employers can hire and train workers for the calving season.”
Officials are also working with Federated Farmers to produce a step-by-step AEWV guide for primary sector employers.
Stanford said regulations for retaining migrant workers need to balance employment demand and workers gaining required skills with not allowing people to become too settled if they do not have a pathway to residence.
“People on temporary work visas have more limited access to things like education, health and welfare support and it is not fair to allow them and their families to remain in NZ for an extended period of time if they do not have a realistic pathway to residency.”
Stanford said she and officials are meeting with primary sector stakeholders to discuss the AEWV.
