Employer Bulletin | 27 January

The requirements to complete Employment New Zealand's online modules for the AEWV are being removed on 27 January 2025.

These will be removed for all current and future accredited employers and Recognised Seasonal Employers (RSEs). Immigration New Zealand (INZ) will instead provide employers and workers with links to freely available Employment New Zealand or INZ webpages, that set out employment rights and obligations at the most appropriate points in the immigration process, including in their visa approval letter. Employers are still expected to provide employment and settlement information to migrant workers.

Additionally, the domestic workforce threshold required for triangular employers hiring certain construction roles will reduce from 35% to 15% to align with the requirements for triangular firms in other sectors. This will also come into effect from 27 January 2025.

These changes are part of the reforms to the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) the Government announced on 17 December 2024.

In today’s Bulletin:

• Employment relationship must exist for a union to initiate collective bargaining
• Workers were independent contractors rather than employees
• Employer fails to disclose selection process or seek feedback in restructure
• Decision to decline parental leave payments is reversed
• Employee resigns of own accord and is not constructively dismissed
• Nine news updates of interest for employers including: Refreshed team to drive economic growth in 2025; Electronic card transactions: December 2024; Increase to the Visa Application Centre (VAC) service fees; New appointments bring business expertise to the Employment Relations Authority; Annual inflation at 2.2% in December 2024; Invest New Zealand opens doors to the world; Reform of New Zealand’s science, innovation and technology system; Economic growth the key to better days ahead; and Changes to Employment New Zealand module requirements and domestic workforce threshold for AEWV coming into effect
• Ten bills open for submission

If you have any questions, about this case or other employment relation matters, call the Advice Line team on 0800 800 362.