Employer Obligations Under AEWV Accreditation
Accreditation is a set of continuing promises, not a one-off approval. Accredited employers must provide settlement information, support workers to settle, and never pass recruitment costs on to workers — and must keep doing so for the whole accreditation term. Minimum employment standards apply on top, enforced by Employment New Zealand rather than INZ.
Quick Facts
| Who this binds | Every accredited employer, for the whole accreditation term |
| Core obligations | Settlement information · settlement support · no recruitment costs passed to workers |
| Job floor | At least 30 guaranteed hours a week, paid the market rate |
| Pay rule | Pay offered must match what was advertised |
| Triangular extra | At least 15% of placed staff must be NZ citizens or residents guaranteed 30+ hours a week |
| Enforced by | INZ (immigration obligations) · Employment New Zealand (employment standards) |
| Consequence of breach | Suspension or revocation of accreditation; stand-down lists; permanent ban |
| Premiums for employment | The Bill that passed 21 November 2025 creates an offence carrying up to 7 years or NZ$100,000 |
Obligations are ongoing, not a checkbox
The commitments made in the accreditation application must be maintained throughout the accreditation period. That single sentence is the difference between accreditation as a licence and accreditation as a certificate.
INZ grants accreditation against declarations. It then checks. An employer who met every criterion in month one and stopped meeting them in month seven is non-compliant in month seven, regardless of what the original decision said.
If you are a migrant: this is why an employer's accreditation status is not permanent, and why the answer to "is my employer accredited?" can change during your employment. It is also why the obligations below are worth reading even though they are addressed to the employer — several of them exist specifically to protect you, and knowing them tells you when something has gone wrong.
The three core immigration obligations
1. Provide settlement information to migrant workers
Accredited employers must give migrant workers settlement information. The purpose is practical: a worker arriving from overseas needs to know how to get an IRD number, open a bank account, enrol with a doctor, find accommodation and understand their employment rights.
Our moving to New Zealand first steps and IRD number and tax for new migrants guides cover the ground an employer's settlement pack should be covering.
2. Support workers to settle in New Zealand
Separate from providing information. Providing a document is not the same as supporting someone through the first months in an unfamiliar country, and INZ lists the two obligations distinctly.
3. Do not pass recruitment costs on to workers
The most important obligation on this page, and the one most often broken.
An accredited employer must not pass recruitment costs on to workers. That covers the NZ$775 accreditation fee, the NZ$735 Job Check fee, agency and recruiter fees, and any other cost of recruiting the worker. It is not a matter of negotiation and a worker cannot consent their way out of it — an employer who takes the money has breached the obligation whether or not the worker agreed.
Three separate consequences follow from breaking it:
- The accreditation is at risk. Passing on recruitment costs is a breach of the terms accreditation was granted on.
- The visa is at risk. INZ declines an AEWV where the applicant or their agent offered or promised money to the employer in exchange for the job offer. The worker who paid is the one who loses the visa.
- There is a criminal dimension. The Immigration (Fiscal Sustainability and System Integrity) Amendment Bill passed its third reading on 21 November 2025 and creates an offence of knowingly seeking or receiving a premium for employment, with penalties of up to seven years' imprisonment or a NZ$100,000 fine. Royal Assent and commencement dates were not published at the time of writing — that is what the legislation creates, not a statement about what is in force today. Confirm the current position on legislation.govt.nz.
Obligations attached to the job itself
Set at the Job Check and enforced afterwards:
| Obligation | Detail |
|---|---|
| Minimum hours | The job must guarantee at least 30 hours a week |
| Pay must match the advertisement | Pay offered must match what was advertised — an employer cannot advertise a range and then hire at the bottom of a different one |
| Market rate | Pay must be the market rate for the occupation, and at least the adult minimum wage |
| Pay must be guaranteed | Piece rates, commission and bonuses count only in addition to the guaranteed hourly rate |
| Job, employer, location | A migrant may work only in the job, for the employer, and at the location on their visa |
The pay-matches-the-advertisement rule deserves emphasis because it is enforceable in both directions. The advertisement must state the minimum and maximum rate of pay or estimated actual earnings, and what is actually paid must match it. A worker holding the advertisement that led to their Job Check is holding evidence.
Since 10 March 2025 the pay test has been the market rate — INZ defines it as "a range of pay that a New Zealander or resident would be paid within to do the job, or equivalent work" — with the minimum wage as the floor. The median-wage threshold was removed on that date. See market rate pay for the AEWV.
Extra obligations for triangular employment accreditation
An employer placing migrants with a controlling third party must also keep at least 15% of placed staff as New Zealand citizens or residents guaranteed 30 or more hours a week. This is continuous, not a one-off, and it is the obligation that most often breaks as a labour hire book shifts.
The threshold was cut from 35% to 15% for labour hire construction roles in January 2025. See triangular employment accreditation explained.
The obligations INZ does not enforce — and who does
This is the section that matters most to a worker, and it is the one almost no immigration site writes.
Minimum employment standards apply to migrant workers exactly as they apply to New Zealanders, regardless of visa status. Minimum wage, holiday and leave entitlements, a written employment agreement, accurate wage and time records, rest and meal breaks, and protection from unjustified dismissal are employment law, not immigration law.
The authority on those is Employment New Zealand (part of MBIE), not Immigration New Zealand. INZ decides visas. Employment New Zealand and its Labour Inspectorate enforce employment standards, and they can investigate an employer whether or not any immigration issue exists.
Three practical consequences:
- Your visa status does not reduce your employment rights. An employer who says "you are on a work visa, so those rules don't apply" is wrong.
- You can raise an employment problem without raising an immigration problem. Unpaid wages, missing holiday pay and unlawful deductions are Employment New Zealand matters.
- Employment breaches feed back into immigration. Employers found in breach of minimum employment standards can be placed on the stand-down list, which disqualifies them from accreditation.
Our New Zealand employment rights for migrant workers guide sets out what those standards actually are.
If you are being exploited
Migrant exploitation has real reporting routes and they do not all run through your employer.
- Employment New Zealand — for minimum employment standards: unpaid or underpaid wages, unlawful deductions, no employment agreement, missing wage and time records, denied breaks or leave. Contact details are published at employment.govt.nz.
- The Labour Inspectorate, part of Employment New Zealand, investigates and enforces those standards and can take an employer to the Employment Relations Authority.
- Immigration New Zealand — for the immigration side: an employer demanding payment for a job offer, threatening your visa, or breaching accreditation obligations. MBIE also operates a dedicated reporting service for migrant exploitation; the current contact details are published on the MBIE and Employment New Zealand websites.
- The Migrant Exploitation Protection Work Visa exists so that a migrant who leaves an exploitative employer is not forced to choose between their safety and their immigration status. Applicants for it are exempt from the immigration levy. See migrant exploitation and the protection work visa.
- A licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer can advise on your own position. We cannot — see the note at the foot of this page.
Reporting an employer is a significant step with consequences for your employment, and this page cannot tell you whether to take it. What it can tell you is that the routes exist, that they are free to use, and that they do not depend on your employer's cooperation.
How obligations are enforced
INZ can act against an accredited employer during the term. Outcomes range from a requirement to fix something, through suspension or revocation of accreditation, to placement on the employer stand-down list or the immigration stand-down list — either of which disqualifies the business from holding accreditation — and, at the top end, a permanent ban from hiring migrant workers.
Employers on either stand-down list, permanently banned, bankrupt or under a No Asset Procedure cannot be accredited. See employer accreditation requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the obligations of an accredited employer in New Zealand?
Provide settlement information to migrant workers, support them to settle in New Zealand, and never pass recruitment costs on to workers — maintained for the whole accreditation term. The job must also guarantee at least 30 hours a week and pay must match what was advertised.
Can an accredited employer charge a worker for recruitment costs?
No. Passing recruitment costs on to workers breaches accreditation, and paying an employer for a job offer causes INZ to decline the AEWV. The Bill passed on 21 November 2025 also creates an offence of knowingly seeking or receiving a premium for employment, with penalties up to seven years or NZ$100,000.
What settlement information must an employer provide?
INZ requires settlement information and settlement support without prescribing a single template on the pages reviewed here. In practice it covers the things a new arrival needs: tax and IRD, banking, healthcare enrolment, housing, transport, and employment rights.
Do migrant workers have the same employment rights as New Zealanders?
Yes. Minimum wage, holiday and leave entitlements, a written employment agreement, wage and time records, breaks and protection from unjustified dismissal apply regardless of visa status. Employment New Zealand, not INZ, is the authority on those standards.
Who do I report an employer to in New Zealand?
Employment New Zealand and its Labour Inspectorate for employment standards breaches such as unpaid wages or missing agreements; Immigration New Zealand for immigration breaches such as payment demanded for a job offer. MBIE publishes a dedicated migrant exploitation reporting service.
What happens to an employer that breaches accreditation obligations?
INZ can suspend or revoke accreditation, place the employer on the employer or immigration stand-down list, or in the most serious cases ban them permanently from hiring migrant workers. Any of those stops further Job Checks immediately.
Does an employer have to keep the job the same after the visa is granted?
The job, the employer and the location are visa conditions. Changing them requires a variation of conditions, a job change application, or a new visa. See changing employers on an AEWV.
General information only. This page explains published Immigration New Zealand and Employment New Zealand rules. It does not assess anyone's circumstances, does not tell any reader what to do about their own employer, and is not immigration advice. Under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007, only a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer with a current practising certificate may give New Zealand immigration advice — see how to find a licensed immigration adviser.
