Advertise a job and engage with Work and Income

Unless your role is exempt, you will need to advertise the job within 90 days of your Job Check application. You may also need to engage with Work and Income.

How to apply for a Job Check

Jobs that are exempt from advertising or engaging with Work and Income

You do not need to advertise the job or engage with Work and Income before you apply for a Job Check if your job:

  • is on the Green List and meets the Green List role requirements, or
  • pays at least NZD$59.32 an hour (twice the February 2023 median wage).

You do not need to engage with Work and Income if the job is Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) level 1, 2 or 3. You will still need to advertise, unless your job is exempt.

Advertise the job

Before you apply for a Job Check, you must have advertised the job on a suitable national listing website or advertising channel.

You can apply for a Job Check within 90 days of your listing closing. The listing must have closed before you apply for a Job Check.

How long you need to advertise for

If the role is ANZSCO skill level 1, 2 or 3, you must advertise for at least 14 days.

If the role is ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5, you must advertise for at least 21 days. You will also need to show that you engaged with Work and Income about the vacancy.

Alert

Make sure that the job description of the role you are hiring for mostly matches the ANZSCO description of that role. We will not give you more time to advertise a role or engage with Work and Income if you apply for a Job Check for an ANZSCO level 1, 2 or 3 role, but we assess it as being ANZSCO level 4 or 5.

Job advertisement requirements

Your job ad must include:

  • the job description
  • the minimum and maximum pay
  • the location
  • minimum hours of work
  • estimated actual earnings if the job pays by piece, commission or there are other rates or bonuses
  • the minimum skills, experience, and qualifications for the role.

Look for a New Zealander to do the job

When you advertise, you must check if there are suitable and available New Zealanders.

To be a suitable and available New Zealander, someone must:

  • be a New Zealand citizen or resident
  • be qualified for the job or able to be trained on the job
  • live close to where the job is or be able to move there
  • have a practical way of travelling to the job, like a bus or their own car
  • be available for full-time work in the hours you need.

In your Job Check application you need to declare if you found any suitable New Zealanders for the job.

If the job is ANZSCO level 4 or 5 you need to indicate why any New Zealanders who applied were not suitable or available

Your Job Check will be declined if the information you provide shows there were suitable and available New Zealanders to fill your vacancy.

Using a recruitment agency

You can use a recruitment agency to advertise and find suitable applicants.

You cannot pass on any recruitment costs to job applicants.

Engage with Work and Income

If your job is ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5, you must engage with Work and Income before you apply for a Job Check. This is in addition to advertising the role, but you can advertise the job at the same time you engage with Work and Income.

You can apply for a Job Check within 90 days of engaging with Work and Income.

How to engage with Work and Income

You complete Work and Income's online form.

Hiring migrant workers | Work and Income

You need to include a job description that shows:

  • the main tasks and responsibilities of the role
  • the terms and conditions of the employment
  • the minimum and maximum rate of pay or salary
  • estimated actual earnings if the job pays by piece, commission or there are other rates or bonuses
  • the minimum guaranteed hours of work
  • the location of the job.

The details should match what you will submit in your Job Check application.

Work and Income will decide:

  • to list the job for up to 21 days
  • they cannot fill the vacancy and you do not need to engage with them further.

They will contact you within 5 working days to let you know if they will list the job or not.

While they are listing a job, Work and Income may decide to reduce the listing time to less than 21 days.

Work and Income will send you an Engagement Check once the engagement is complete. It will confirm:

  • how long they listed the job for and if they matched any job seekers with the job, or
  • they cannot fill the vacancy and you did not need to list the job with them.

You upload a copy of the Work and Income Engagement Check to the Supporting Documents page of the Job Check form.