Whangarei restaurant faces increased chef turnover

Chefs at Suk Jai Thai Restaurant in Kensington are from left, Wiphawan Doensanthia, Parichard Rungrueng, Chamnan Pumkor and Pongsathon Monjit. Photo / Tania Whyte

Proposed immigration changes could force some Northland restaurants to hire and retrain chefs every three years.

The government has announced proposals that would change eligibility criteria for work visas.

To qualify for a "rolling" skilled work visas, workers would need to be earning more than $23.49 per hour or at least $49,000 a year.

Workers earning less than $49,000 will qualify for a maximum three-year work visas, before having to return home.

The award-winning Suk Jai Thai Restaurant in Kensington, Whangarei, has made a submission to the Minister of Business, Innovation and Employment and pleaded for an exemption of the three-year rule and pay threshold for ethnic Thai chefs in New Zealand.

Charn Tiebtienrat employs four Thai chefs and none earn more than $49,000 annually.

Mr Tiebtienrat moved his business from Christchurch after the 2011 earthquake and opened in Whangarei in September 2012.

His restaurant was judged one of five best Thai restaurants in New Zealand in 2013.

Two of his chefs have been with him for more than 10 years, one arrived in September 2012 and another last July.

"Under the proposed rule change I have an option of raising the hourly rate for my chefs to meet the income threshold but I can't afford that because that would mean passing costs on to my customers.

"If I don't increase their pay, they will have to go back to Thailand after working for three years and I will have to hire new chefs who will have to adjust their cooking techniques to suit New Zealand clients," he said.

Mr Tiebtienrat is hopeful of a positive outcome otherwise he will have no option but to hire new chefs every three years.

There are seven Thai restaurants in Whangarei and 20 throughout Northland.

Mr Tiebtienrat said a majority of those restaurant owners were New Zealand citizens who had invested a significant amount of money to open their businesses.

"For them to remain financially independent, they must also rely on the government to facilitate them with the rules, which take into consideration their business needs, so they can continue to run their businesses smoothly."

Mr Tiebtienrat said he understood the government wanting to restrict work visas for low-skilled workers such as bar tenders, restaurant managers and cleaners but authentic Thai cooking was different as locals could not be easily trained.

Hospitality New Zealand advocacy and policy manager, Dylan Firth, said not just Thai chefs but workers in restaurants that hired people from India, China, Korea, Vietnam and Fiji would be affected by the government proposal.

"Immigration New Zealand would say why are Thai chefs any different to chefs from other countries? I think it's a pretty arbitrary measure.

Pay is not the best way to determine changes, especially when wages vary across regions," he said.

The average annual wage of those working in the hospitality industry was between $39,624 and $43,284, according to Statistics New Zealand.

Northland MP Winston Peters said restaurant workers were turning New Zealand into a third world country by bringing unskilled workers on skilled visas and not paying them fair salaries.

"Some restaurants rip off foreign students by demanding they pay to get a job, and others employ them on a low hourly rate for cash," he said.

Submissions on the proposed changes to immigration rules close on May 21. A final decision is expected in July.

Information on the government proposal, including how to make submissions, can be found at www.mbie.govt.nz.