New laws serve up workplace problems
When you eat at an Indian restaurant in future, you’re more likely to be served by a Kiwi than by an Indian national who’s here on a work visa.
Let me explain. From July 4, employers will have to pay workers applying for an Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) a minimum of $27.76 per hour (the new median wage), even for low-skilled jobs such as kitchenhand and waiter.
However, restaurant owners tellme they can only afford to pay $27.76 for chefs and managers. That is, they cannot pay the median wage for low-skilled staff.
The Government’s objective for this category is ‘‘incentivising employers to employ more New Zealanders to respond to skill and labour shortages’’. Employers I spoke to will certainly be giving New Zealanders a try in lowerskilled roles. My contacts in Indian restaurants say they are happy to hire New Zealanders if they can find them.
‘‘Kiwis are well-travelled and eat a lot of Indian food, so they can answer customers’ questions about the food,’’ says Bunty Minhas, owner of Punjabi Kitchen restaurants in west Auckland and the North Shore.
Minhas says he can train New Zealanders quickly as kitchen or wait staff, but has had trouble finding them. Last month, Work and Income NZ told him that it had no one to refer towork for him as a dishwasher.
Where possible, Minhas said he would offer jobs to Kiwis, but he couldn’t afford to pay $27.76. Instead, he would include free food – a common way for restaurants to attract and retain workers.
But with labour shortages, who else can fill these positions at a price employers can afford? There are several possibilities:
■ New Zealand residents: As well as existing resident visa-holders, about 200,000 people are expected to be approved under the 2021 Resident Visa category, which closes on July 31. Once approved, they can work for any employer.
■ Working Holiday Visaholders: The progressive reopening of this category began in March. It allows full-time work on a non-permanent basis.
■ People with ‘‘open’’ partnership-based visas: Mainly partners of New Zealanders and Work Visa-holders.
■ Student Visa-holders and PostStudy Work Visa-holders: The New Zealand border has just reopened to 5000 students from overseas, but it will take some time before they can enter the workforce. Also, a surprising number of ex-students (graduates) are in low-skilled jobs such as caregivers, despite their new qualifications. Many have already applied for 2021 Resident Visas and are likely to be approved.
As well as increased pay levels, restaurant owners I’ve spoken to are concerned about costs and bureaucratic requirements that comewith the Accredited Employer Work Visa, including an Immigration New Zealand (INZ) Employer Accreditation application fee of $740 for an initial 12-month accreditation; INZ’s ‘‘job check’’ application fee of $610 – to prove no New Zealanders are available for the position; INZ’s AEWV worker application fee of $540. That’s three applications for $1890 compared with one application at $495 under the Essential Skills work visa, which will be phased out on July 3.
The employer is also required to advertise the job.
Some new requirements include employers completing learning modules and providing migrant workers with workrelated settlement information within a month of starting work. Migrant workers must also complete modules on employment rights, done during paid hours.
Employers have always needed to meet all employment and immigration laws, but must now comply with ‘‘employment, immigration and business standards’’ – which the Government will set through its AEWV policies.
I have previously supported the introduction of the AEWV.
However, the extra fees, compliance costs, and bureaucratic hoops are harder to justify for small businesses already under the gun. Minhas says if operating costs increase further, some restaurants could close at lunchtime to reduce staffing costs, threatening their overall viability. As a result, more restaurants may close for good.