Labour – update from last week’s announcements on visa holders
I’m pleased to report that following last week’s announcement by the Immigration Minister, agencies have worked exceptionally fast to support our sector. Importantly the timeframe for new rules is now 1 October, NOT 1 November as advised last week. That means that, from tomorrow, any expiring Working Holder Visas (WHV) will be automatically issued a Supplementary Seasonal Employer (SSE) visa. Those already with WHVs will need to apply to Immigration NZ.
The issuance of an SSE visa does not restrict visa holders to one employer. There are three ways in which SSE visa holders can be employed:
- For an employer with an approved SSE Approval-in-Principle.
- For any RSE employer with an approved ATR and unfilled RSE worker positions.
- For any employer in a region, during a period of time, and in a role specified by MSD.
The Ministry of Social Development have worked exceptionally quickly with Summerfruit NZ to establish these roles, and their list for Southern Region was published on Monday (click here), after a quick flurry of discussions late last week.
You will note that the timeframes for these regional roles only go until February 2021 at this stage, but can be extended as needed. Also packers are not yet included, but are expected to be in due course. Please note the crop list will be updated to include plums. This is a great piece of work by the team at MSD to support the summerfruit sector in Central Otago. Further work will be done on other regions also.
Handpicked campaign reaches Kiwi universities
You will start to see much greater visibility of the Handpicked campaign over the coming weeks, as we roll out to students this week. A reminder please to register your jobs on the Work the Seasons website to ensure you’re ready for applicants.
I extend the thanks of the Board to my team for their great work to build a whole series of new relationships with stakeholders and prepare the Handpicked campaign. A highlight was a meeting last week with careers staff from across nearly all New Zealand universities who are very keen to get behind our industry and seasonal work. Of note from this discussion was some expectation on employers to provide transport and potentially accommodation for those coming from some distance into our regions to work.
This week we have received 12,000 Handpicked flyers to go out to all manner of possible employees through a range of engagements the length and breadth of the country.
I would like to note particularly the incredible support we’ve had from both Ministry of Social Development and Ministry for Primary Industries staff to support our seasonal labour work – my thanks for their continued support and effort.
Summerfruit NZ in the media
Catch Richard Palmer on Radio NZ's The Detail talking about the labour shortage here.