Labour hire firms under scrutiny
Labour hire companies may face stricter regulation in a bid to reduce exploitation of migrant workers.
Immigration Minister Ian Lees-galloway has signalled that compulsory accreditation of labour hire companies is on the cards to prevent abuse of New Zealand’s migrant workforce.
A government-ordered investigation into migrant-worker exploitation has been completed and he said policies to address problems would be announced before the end of the year.
Accreditation is voluntary for labour hire companies, other than those working in the Canterbury construction sector, where it became mandatory after poor treatment of migrant workers emerged during the post-quake rebuild.
So far, 22 labour hire companies have been accredited after satisfying Immigration NZ (INZ) they met certain standards.
A revamp of employer-assisted temporary work visas includes a proposal to require all employers be accredited before they can hire a migrant worker, and Leesgalloway said a specific category for labour hire operators was under consideration.
‘‘There could be much closer scrutiny of work that they propose for the workers to do.’’
Canstaff owner Matt Jones is keen to see the Canterbury system introduced nationally.
‘‘We need to show proof that we are continually trying to engage New Zealand workers, that we are promoting training of New Zealanders, that we have good work place practices and that we are paying all our Canstaff owner
migrant staff correctly.’’
Compulsory accreditation would be fairer because nonaccredited labour hire companies that did not currently face the expense of bringing in workers from overseas openly poached his staff, Jones said.
‘‘One day we lost 20 staff to another labour hire company because it came along and offered them $1 or $2 a hour more ... because they had no recruitment costs from the Philippines.’’
Christchurch employment lawyer Paul Brown regularly acts for migrant workers who have been ripped off. He would like to see rules around what labour hire firms can recoup in terms of relocation costs for migrant workers as it was a grey area.
‘‘We lost 20 staff to another labour hire company . . . because they had no recruitment costs.’’ Matt Jones