Employer requirements to help settle AEWV employees in New Zealand

Giving your employees information about working and living in New Zealand is a requirement of being an Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) accredited employer.

Meeting the settlement requirements

As an accredited employer you are required to:

  • give your AEWV employees paid time to learn about employment rights, and
  • provide them with information about settling in New Zealand.

You must do this within the employee's first month of employment.

Evidence to show you have done this can include:

  • copies of settlement information
  • communications with AEWV employees about the settlement information
  • your organisation's induction plans for new AEWV employees
  • confirmation AEWV employees have completed Employment New Zealand’s online modules.

If you need help meeting these requirements, our employer line is open between 08:00 and 18:00, Monday to Friday. Freephone from New Zealand landlines 0508 967 569.

Paid time to complete learning modules

You are required to help your AEWV employees understand their employment rights.

You must give them enough paid time during work hours to complete the online learning modules from Employment New Zealand. This time must be within their first month of work.

These online modules help migrants learn about their employee rights and avoid disagreements.

Employment Learning Modules — Employment New Zealand

Settlement information you must give AEWV employees

As an accredited employer you are required to give your AEWV employees information to help them get settled in New Zealand.

You must provide the following information about the local community and services, and information about being an employee:

  • accommodation options
  • transportation options — including information on driving and driver licences, and public transport options
  • the cost of living
  • how to access healthcare services
  • Citizens Advice Bureau services
  • relevant community groups
  • how to get an IRD number from Inland Revenue
  • any industry training and qualification information and options, and
  • specific job or industry hazards.
Note

If you have given this information to the employee before, you do not need to give it again if the information has not changed.

Information you must provide

Accommodation

You must provide information about accommodation options.

For example, you could include:

Renting a house in New Zealand — Live and Work New Zealand

Starting a tenancy — Tenancy Services

Types of tenancies — Tenancy Services

You should include some personalised local information. This could include:

  • surrounding suburbs, the schools there and commute times to work
  • how to find accommodation, for example using property websites, real estate agencies, and social media groups
  • what to look out for when choosing a place to live, such as checking that it has good heating and it is not an earthquake-prone building
  • any accommodation the workplace provides.

Transport

You must provide information about transport — including driving, driver licences and public transport options.

For example, you could include:

Transport — Live and Work New Zealand

Driving in New Zealand — Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency

Converting to a New Zealand driver licence — Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency

You should include some personalised local information. This could include:

  • how to use public transport in your area
  • ways to get to work
  • how to buy a car
  • options for driving to work, carpools and company vehicles
  • workplace facilities for cyclists.

Cost of living

You must provide information about the cost of living.

For example, you could include:

Cost of living in New Zealand — Live and Work New Zealand

Getting help with your budget — New Zealand Government

You should include some personalised local information. This could include:

  • regional costs like water and rubbish collection
  • heating costs
  • tips for saving money, for example shopping at local farmers markets or buying second-hand items
  • any employee discounts.

Accessing health care services

You must provide information on how to access healthcare services.

For example, you could include:

Where to go for care — Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand

Healthcare services — Live and Work New Zealand

What to do if you're injured — ACC

If your employee has an AEWV that is for 2 years or longer, they can use publicly funded health services in New Zealand. You could provide information on what they may be eligible for.

Eligibility for public health services — Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand

You should include some personalised local information. This could include:

  • local health centres and hospitals, including distances if they live out of town
  • what to do in an emergency or after hours
  • regional health websites — check the directory at Te Whatu Ora
    Our local health websites — Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand
  • any health insurance, benefits or services available from the workplace including EAP services.

Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) services

You must provide information about CAB services.

For example, you could include:

Employment and business — Citizens Advice Bureau

Find a CAB — Citizens Advice Bureau

Migrant connect — Citizens Advice Bureau — a service for new migrants, with no appointment needed

Access help and support — Live and Work New Zealand

Community groups

You must provide information about relevant community groups.

For example, you could include:

Meeting people — Live and Work New Zealand

You should include some personalised local information. This could include:

  • local community groups including sports clubs, cultural groups, and places of worship
  • local and online English learning courses
  • councils involved in the Welcoming Communities initiative.

Getting an IRD number from Inland Revenue

You must provide information about getting an IRD number.

For example, you could include:

New arrivals to New Zealand — IRD

Find my IRD number — IRD

Paying tax when you work or study in New Zealand — IRD

Money and taxes in New Zealand

Industry training and qualifications

You must provide information about any industry training and qualifications.

For example, you could include:

Occupational registration

Getting overseas qualifications recognised by NZQA

You should include some personalised local information. This could include:

  • English language courses
  • any training that the workplace offers.

Job or industry hazards

You must provide information about specific job or industry hazards.

For example, you could include:

Health and Safety at work — Live and Work New Zealand

Your rights and obligations — WorkSafe

You should also provide information specific to the workplace. This could include:

  • protective gear for their role
  • health and safety training
  • any differences to how health and safety is managed in their home country
  • hazards in the workplace.

Optional information you could provide

Information for families with children

You could include information about:

  • helping children to adjust to a new country
  • the New Zealand school system
  • local schools and childcare
  • groups for parents
  • afterschool activities
  • tips on buying clothes, toys and school supplies.

Employment rights

Note

You are already required to help your AEWV employees understand their employment rights by giving them paid work time to complete the Employment Learning Modules.

You could give them additional information about leave, holidays, wages, tax, and discrimination and harassment at work.

Employment rights — Live and Work New Zealand

Other information you could include

You could include information about:

  • how people in New Zealand pay for things using EFTPOS, credit cards and debit cards
  • setting up bank accounts and transferring money
  • how to get a mobile phone and internet
  • local climate and weather
  • New Zealand emergency services and how to get help.

Template to help you give the required information

You can provide the settlement information in your own document or use our template.

The 'Advice to help you settle in Aotearoa New Zealand' template helps to make sure you give your employee the required information.

Advice to help you settle in Aotearoa New Zealand — template for AEWV accredited employers DOCX 605KB

This document contains sections for:

  • general information you must include for all employees on an AEWV
  • local or personalised information you could include, and
  • optional information you could include.

Instructions for using the template

The sections you should personalise are highlighted in the document, with instructions and examples of information you could include.

  1. Read all the highlighted instructions.
  2. Replace the highlighted instructions with local personalised information. Use the examples to help you.
  3. Delete any remaining highlighted instructions.

After you have updated the document with information for your employee, email it or give them a printed copy.

Tip

You can include this settlement information in a welcome kit — making a welcome kit is one of the things you can do to prepare for your new employee.

Preparing for your migrant staff