Frustrations around Immigration's new accredited employer scheme

Marcin and Jackie Kulak of Mekong Baby are among thousands of hospitality business owners struggling to find staff since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

Marcin Kulak is reducing the operating hours at his restaurant Mekong Baby in Ponsonby because he says it is "impossible" to find staff.

Kulak says also that being an accredited employer under the new immigration scheme to allow businesses to sponsor people for work visas has been "more hindrance than help".

The Restaurant Association says it is hearing from a number of members about frustrations in using the immigration accreditation scheme.

"Us and hundreds of other hospitality venues have been struggling to find staff since the beginning of the pandemic," Kulak said.

"It's partially hard for restaurants like mine where you serve certain cuisine that requires particular skills."

Mekong Baby, a restaurant Kulak has been running with his wife Jacqueline for the last three years. serves up Southeast Asian fusion cuisine.

Marcin Kulak says he needs chefs with particular skill sets at his Asian fusion restaurant Mekong Baby. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

After failing to find anyone in New Zealand to work as chefs, Kulak turned to one of his staff to help find workers overseas.

"I recently hired a Vietnamese chef who is a resident here, and has at least two friends in Vietnam that are desperate to relocate to NZ," he said.

"I applied to get accredited and try to get them over here. But since I applied on June 28, the position of chef is still being 'assessed' and another for wait staff posted on July 1 is being 'under initial assessment'."

Kulak said he paid $1200 to get accredited, and a further $600 for each of the positions available. He had been spending around $2000 a month seeking qualified staff through advertisements here without success.

"The job check I thought was to make sure there are no eligible New Zealanders available for the job, but someone from INZ who called me couldn't tell me when I asked if that was the purpose," he said.

Marisa Bidois, CEO of the Restaurant Association. Photo / Supplied

Marisa Bidois, chief executive of the Restaurant Association said members frustrations were specifically about delays in INZ's processing of accreditation at the job check stage.

"The other major issue that has been raised is around a qualification being a requirement for chefs, with experience not being considered as a marker of skill and this doesn't always translate in our industry," Bidois said.

"We see chefs from Michelin starred restaurants being turned down if they do not have a qualification.

"We raised these complaints with the immigration minister when we met two ago and he gave us his assurance that he would look into this."

Bidois said there hasn't yet been any easing of the skills shortage for the hospitality industry and the new system hasn't helped businesses get the workers they desperately need.

Michael Carley, INZ's Acting General Manager Border and Visa Operations, said all three stages of the new Accredited Employer Work Visa policy are now live, with applications open for employer accreditation, job checks and work visas.

"The policy is an employer-led work visa approach, which is new to employers and requires different behaviours," Carley said.

"Not only are employers learning how to navigate the new technology and AEWV policy, our staff are also learning how to process this new visa category while helping to educate employers on what is needed."

Carley said the current labour market conditions were "unprecedented" and INZ has been reviewing its initial approach to ensure the application process was quick and easy.

"We remain committed to processing job check applications within 10 working days where applications are straightforward and have all the required information," he said.

As at August 13, INZ has received 9100 employer accreditation applications since applications opened on May 23.

Of those, 8178 applications have been approved and the average processing time for accreditation applications was five working days, according to Carley.

Job Check applications opened on June 20 and as at August 13, INZ has received 4880 applications, which he said equated to 33,016 jobs. Of those, 2752 job check applications have been approved, equating to 18,610 jobs.

Carley said that no work visa applications have been declined to date.

Since work visa applications opened on July 4, 1163 visa applications and 59 have been approved.

Carley blamed omissions and errors by employers in their applications for impacting the agency's ability to process them within the 10-day time frame.

"Based on an initial sample of the Job Check applications received in the first couple of weeks where further information has been required, the errors identified are largely in relation to the employment agreement and job advertisement requirements," he said.

Carley said INZ will initially be taking a facilitative approach to processing applications and a more pragmatic approach for those where further information was needed.

"This includes outward calling to employers to help speed up the process and get the information more quickly," he said.

"A contact line has also been set up through the Immigration Contact Centre specifically for employers to contact INZ if they have any questions or concerns about the AEWV."