Supplementary Seasonal Employment – Approval in Principle

You may wish to consider applying for a Supplementary Seasonal Employment (SSE) Approval in Principle, if you need to supplement your New Zealand workforce with overseas workers to manage seasonal labour demands. If we approve your application, you can employ the number of overseas workers detailed in your Approval in Principle. To be able to work for you, workers must already be in New Zealand and have an SSE Work Visa.

Overview

Duration	Overseas workers can work for you for up to 6 months

With this option employers can

Recruit overseas workers who are already in New Zealand to plant, maintain, harvest, or pack crops in peak seasons when there is more demand for labour than there are New Zealanders to do the work.
Employ overseas workers who are already in New Zealand and have a Supplementary Seasonal Employment (SSE) Visa.
Hire the number of SSE workers we approved when you applied for your Approval in Principle – you’ll need to tell us about the number of available jobs when you apply.

Things to note

We’ll only approve your application if after checking with Work and Income, we can confirm there aren’t enough suitable New Zealanders available to do the work.

What is involved

1 Apply for an Approval in Principle

Horticulture and viticulture industry employers can apply for a Supplementary Seasonal Employer Approval in Principle, which if granted will allow them to employ overseas workers who are already in New Zealand to plant, maintain, harvest or packing crops.

Check criteria & apply

2 Maintain your Approval in Principle

To continue to be able to employ overseas workers, employers must continue to meet the requirements of their Supplementary Seasonal Employment Approval in Principle. Find out more about how to maintain your approval.