Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Scheme

You’ll need to provide your Recognised Seasonal Employer number with your ‘Application for an Agreement to Recruit’.

Application for an Agreement to Recruit (INZ 1141) PDF 1MB

When you complete your application you’ll be asked to tell us:

• the region(s) where there’s a shortage of seasonal labour
• the number of workers you’ll need
• a description of the available positions
• the time each position is available for.

We’ll only grant an Agreement to Recruit (ATR) if both:

• your need for seasonal labour can’t be met by the available New Zealand workforce
• there are enough available places on the RSE quota for us to grant RSE visas for the overseas workers.

You must list any available positions with Work and Income before you apply for an ATR. We’ll check that you have done this when we assess whether there is a labour shortage.

We’ll check our records to make sure there are enough places left within the annual limits to grant visas to overseas seasonal workers.

When they arrive you must:

• arrange for someone to pick up from the airport
• provide a work induction programme to help workers settle in
• arrange somewhere for workers to live at a fair price – in some regions restrictions on the use of residential housing apply
• explain how and where they can:
  • get medical insurance
  • access banking services
  • send money home safely.

While they are working for you, you must provide:

• transport to and from work
• any safety equipment they need to do their job - for example protective clothing
• toilets and somewhere to wash their hands
• first aid, shelter and fresh drinking water
• translations of health and safety instructions
• opportunities for recreation and religious observance.

When their contract ends you must provide transport to the airport.

In regions of high housing pressure, there are restrictions on using houses that you have not previously used to accommodate RSE workers. The restrictions apply to existing ATRs and to RSE employers requesting an increase in the number of workers they can employ.

Providing accommodation for RSE workers

When you complete your agreement to recruit, you’ll be asked to name the country or countries you intend to recruit from. You can only recruit workers from outside the eligible Pacific countries if you can show us that one of the following applies:

• you have existing relationships with workers from other countries
• even though you tried to, you couldn’t recruit workers from eligible Pacific countries
• there’s a good reason it’s not feasible for you to recruit workers from eligible Pacific countries.

You must provide evidence that supports your reasons.

You must provide us with a copy of the employment agreement you’ll be offering your workers, which must:

• pay the market rate
• specify the hourly rate and any piece rates that apply
• pay for half the workers’ return airfares
• detail the pastoral care that will be provided
• detail the work that will be provided. The work may only be planting, maintaining, harvesting, or packing crops in in New Zealand’s horticulture or viticulture industries
• be for no more than 7 months in an eleven-month period, unless your workers are from Tuvalu or Kiribati. People from Tuvalu or Kiribati can work for up to 9 months
• guarantee minimum payments to your workers (at least $22.70 an hour, for a minimum of 30 hours)
• detail any deductions  (including payments for airfares, accommodation and other pastoral care)
• comply with the conditions set out in your ATR
• comply with New Zealand employment law.

You must sign a repatriation agreement guaranteeing to cover the costs of sending workers home up to NZ$3000 per worker (including any living and accommodation costs).

Repatriation Agreement (Single Employer ATRs) DOC 46KB

Repatriation Agreement (Joint ATRs) DOC 40KB