Immigration audits orchards

Michael Franks

Department of Immigration officials are auditing a number of Bay kiwifruit contractors after an illegal migrant was found working for one of Seeka Kiwifruit Industries' contractors.

A Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) spokeswoman said visa issues and problems with holiday pay were among the issues discovered by inspectors, but she could not go into detail until the audits results are released later this month. Seeka's 41 contractors and sub-contractors would be audited.

"In November 2013 it was found a Seeka Kiwifruit Industries Limited contractor was systematically not complying with employment standards and employing an illegal migrant. MBIE cannot comment further on this case as it is still under investigation, she said in a written statement.

"As a result of this case, the Labour Inspectorate and Immigration New Zealand launched a series of audits of Seeka's contractors engaged for the 2014 harvest, with the visits commencing on Monday 12th May."

Seeka is an accredited employer under the Recognised Seasonal Employer policy, which allows horticulture and viticulture industries to recruit workers from overseas for seasonal work when they can't find enough New Zealand staff, she said.

Seeka's chief executive Michael Franks denied the contractor was hired by Seeka at the time of the discovery but admitted the contractor had previously worked for the company.

He said the recent audit had detected "minor compliance issues and one visa anomaly" among the companies contractors. "In the case of the visa issue, the worker was employed by an independent contracting company, had a visa to work in New Zealand but I understand it was company specific in a different sector."

He could not comment on contractor performance outside Seeka but said the company had put steps in place to ensure contractors were compliant after the discovery of the illegal worker. The steps included giving contractors advice around employment contracts, payroll requirements, eligibility to work and safety, he said.

Mr Franks said the company had "no less than 10" government officials on site on May 12.

" ... overall we largely passed the audit with a couple of small corrective things to do. "Some other contractors have not passed and have been caught and, yes, people have been stood down."

Everyone who worked for Seeka had to be safety and employment accredited, he said.

The audit came to the attention of the Bay of Plenty Times after a contractor, who asked not be named, contacted the paper.