It comes just days after the government announced an additional 3000 Recognised Seasonal Employer workers will be allowed in the country. (File image) Photo: RNZ / Johnny Blades
A crackdown on migrant exploitation could see guilty employers face harsher penalties - be publicly named and shamed - and banned from managing a company.
Today, the government introduced the Worker Protection (Migrant and Other Employees) Bill, just days after announcing an additional 3000 Recognised Seasonal Employer workers will be allowed in the country.
The measures include applying infringements for lower level offences such as refusing to provide employment documentation within a reasonable timeframe, and publicly naming and disqualifying those convicted of migrant exploitation from managing or directing a company.
In addition, the bill will also:
- Establish three new Immigration Act infringement offences
- Create a document production power for immigration officers
- Expand the stand-down list to cover offending under the Immigration Act
In a statement, associate minister for workplace relations and safety Priyanca Radhakrishnan said today's announcement was an important step as the country's borders reopened and short-staffed employers sought to fill labour gaps.
"We need to ensure we educate migrant workers so that they know their rights, better protect those who have been exploited by providing further access to support, and hold exploitative employers to account."
A community-led education pilot will also be rolled out, with the help of industry networks.
"Research released today shows that migrants most at risk of exploitation lack basic knowledge of their employment rights. We are making this information more accessible to migrant workers and those who employ them," Radhakrishnan said.
Associate minister for workplace relations and safety Priyanca Radhakrishnan Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The independent research by Kantar Public for Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment showed about a third of workers were at risk of exploitation because of a lack of knowledge of their employment rights or because they were more reliant on a job for financial or visa reasons.
While the research showed the majority of employers were compliant with the law and want to do right by their workers, about 9 percent of employers were categorised as higher risk, with strong business pressures and a lack of knowledge about obligations.
Today's changes bring into force the remaining proposals from the Temporary Migrant Worker Exploitation Review completed in 2020.
Some of the measures brought in last year from the review included setting up a dedicated 0800 number and reporting and triaging web form, the Migrant Exploitation Protection Visa, and liaison support services for victims of migrant exploitation.
More than 119 Migrant Exploitation Protection Visas were granted in the year ending July 2022.
Radhakrishnan said between 1 July 2021 and 30 June 2022, there was an increase of 173 reports on alleged migrant exploitation compared with the previous year.
"Just earlier this week the government announced sick leave provisions to be introduced to our RSE workers, in addition to minimum wage requirements introduced during the pandemic. But with a full review of the scheme under way, we know there is still more to do."
Immigration lawyer and former minister for courts Matt Robson has seen thousands of exploitation cases over the years.
Robson told Checkpoint the penalties had been there before, and there were more simple and transparent solutions.
Agencies that had the power to prosecute and resources investigate all sorts of worker exploitation were cut back, he said.
"The other agency which could help drastically, magnificently I think, would be the Trade Unions.
"Each employer who takes a migrant worker should be bound to allow the union access to those workers, there could be a type of scheme where the employer paid.
"We used to have that in New Zealand, now there's pros and cons to that but workers are sometimes a bit reluctant to part with their hard-earned cash, for all sorts of good reasons, but if the Trade Unions are involved, they can have very, very helpful effect on this.
"And then allowing workers to be assured that they will get a visa, as good as the one they've got, or perhaps even more generous so they have an incentive to whistleblow and that's not there at the moment.
"Until it's shown what will be done for them, the migrant worker, we won't get to the bottom of it. But employers, if they know they're going to get a very hefty prosecution, they too will play ball I believe."