Complying with immigration and employment law

When you recruit and hire migrants, you must comply with employment and immigration laws. Under these laws, employers have certain responsibilities and obligations.

Legal responsibilities and obligations

As an employer you’ll want to assist your migrant employees so they can start work and transition into your workplace and their new community as easily as possible. At the same time, you’ll need to ensure that your interactions with potential migrants and any migrants currently working for you are within the law.

Immigration law for employers

Employers who breach immigration law can be fined, imprisoned, lose their accreditation status and be placed on a stand-down list.

Offering a job to a migrant

You can legally offer a job to an overseas candidate before they have a work or resident visa.

Providing immigration advice to migrants

Immigration advice can only be provided be people licensed to do so, or people exempt from the requirement to be licensed.

Employment law

New Zealand employment law applies equally to migrants and New Zealanders. Breaches of employment standards can result in you being unable to hire migrants.

Feedback about an employee who has left your employment

You can inform us if an overseas worker has a visa to work for your business and their employment is unexpectedly terminated.

Fishing crew employment conditions

Employers recruiting foreign crew to work on a fishing vessel must provide employment that meets certain conditions.

What to include in crew employment agreements

If you are employing crew to work on fishing vessels in New Zealand waters, you must include standard principles in their employment agreements.

Explaining crew rights and obligations

Before a crew member's first voyage to New Zealand you must explain their rights and obligations under New Zealand immigration and employment law.