Workers’ bedroom space rule upsets
A recently enforced minimum bedroom area for seasonal workers has been labelled unreasonable given the national housing and accommodation shortage.
The minimum requirement for the 11,000 Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) workers coming to New Zealand each year is that they must each have at least 4.5 square metres of bedroom floor space.
The rule, which has been in place for years but only recently enforced, has not gone down well with accommodation providers as it will force them to reduce their bed numbers to accommodate the workers.
Employers who have installed purpose-built accommodation units could find they do not comply.
The owner of a Hastings backpackers hostel, who did not want to be named, said the change meant the hostel, which sleeps 19, can now only house 14 RSE workers.
In July, she was visited by a Department of Labour inspector and told she would need to reduce numbers if she was housing RSE workers.
She has provided accommodation to RSE workers every year since 2013, and had local council approval to sleep 19. She usually had a mix of RSE workers and backpackers, many of whom also worked in horticulture and stayed for three to four months.
A room that has always slept six would now only be able to sleep four RSE workers, while rooms with four and three beds will need to be reduced by a bed each.
‘‘I’d be losing $650 a week in income over six months, $15,000,’’ she said.
She had arranged to sell the business, but said if she had stayed on she would have had to reject RSE workers and house only backpackers.
‘‘It’s going to put so much pressure on already pressurised housing. I mean, where are you going to put these people?
‘‘There’s no shortage of demand. If it’s not from backpackers, it’s from people wanting Work and Income quotes. There are people desperate for somewhere to stay.’’
Other hostel owners also shared similar concerns. One owner, who only houses longterm backpackers, said he had considered housing RSE workers but was put off by the newly enforced rules.
Horticulture NZ National seasonal labour co-ordinator Jerf Van Beek said the industry was not happy with the floor space requirement which he said had been enforced by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) in the South Island over the past year.
‘‘They’ve really hammered the rest of the country from June 30 onwards. They’ve been pretty hard-nosed about it. If you don’t have the right space you won’t get approval to recruit.’’
Van Beek questioned whether 4.5sqm was necessary.
‘‘They’re a cut above the rest now. A New Zealander can stay in accommodation approved by council with around 3sqm of floor space. But as soon as you put RSE workers in, the rules change.
‘‘This is being driven from Wellington. We’re not happy with the 4.5sqm rule and we’ve made it quite clear to Government, but at a certain point you can win the battle but lose the war, so we’ve sat down with our employers and agreed with it and moved on,’’ he said.
Sources spoken to by Stuff said a raft of different regulations could be applied to accommodation buildings, each of which might permit a different number of occupants.