Engaging with Work and Income before you apply for a job check

Why you may need to engage with Work and Income

Before you apply for an Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) job check, you must engage in good faith with Work and Income if the job is level 4 or 5 on the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO).

ANZSCO grades occupations according to skill level. ANZSCO skill levels range from 1 to 5 — 1 is the most skilled and 5 is less skilled.

What is ANZSCO and how to find your skill level

You must apply for a job check within 90 days of finishing your engagement with Work and Income.

You must engage with Work and Income in addition to advertising the job on other platforms. You can advertise the job while you engage with Work and Income.

Advertising the job before you apply for a job check

What engaging in good faith means

Engaging in ‘good faith’ with Work and Income means you are honest and genuine in trying to recruit any suitable New Zealand workers or residents who are available and can do the job.

When you apply for a job check, you must declare you have engaged in good faith with Work and Income. This means you must have at least:

• completed the form to let Work and Income know about the job vacancy: Hiring migrant workers — Work and Income
• responded within 3 working days when Work and Income contacts you to discuss the job
• ensured the qualifications and work experience requirements that you provided to Work and Income match those listed in your job advertisement on other platforms, and that those requirements are genuinely required to do the job
• listed the job with Work and Income, unless they say they do not have suitable candidates
• allowed the job to be listed for enough time for Work and Income to refer candidates (this can take up to 10 working days), and also allowed enough additional time for you to interview suitable candidates after the job is listed
• interviewed and appointed any candidates that Work and Income refer if you think they are suitable.

We also recommend that you provide feedback to Work and Income if they refer candidates that you do not think are suitable. This helps them to provide more suitable candidates for you and other employers in the future and is part of their standard practice.

Jobs that are exempt from engaging with Work and Income

You do not need to engage with Work and Income if the job:

• is ANZSCO skill level 1, 2 or 3
• is on the Green List and meets the Green List requirements, or
• pays at least NZD $59.32 an hour.

Green List roles

Who can engage with Work and Income

When you engage with Work and Income, you must give them the details of someone they can contact about the job.

The contact person can be either:

• someone from your business who is responsible for making hiring decisions, or
• a person from an external organisation that you contracted to provide recruitment advice.

A person who is responsible for making hiring decisions is someone involved in the recruitment. They may have some authority over the final hiring decisions.

Examples of people responsible for making hiring decisions include:

• hiring managers
• human resources managers, or
• an owner/operator.

If you are using an external organisation

If you are using an external organisation, for example a recruitment company, to fill the vacancy, you can provide the contact person's details to Work and Income.

The contact person must have been contracted by your business to provide specific recruitment advice. They cannot give you immigration advice about your job check application.

Who cannot be a contact person

If you are using an immigration professional, for example a licensed immigration adviser, immigration lawyer, or someone who will help you with or provide advice for your job check application, they cannot be the contact person when you engage with Work and Income. This is because an immigration professional is not responsible for making hiring decisions or providing specific recruitment advice.

They can still provide immigration advice to you while you engage with Work and Income or during your job check application.

How to engage with Work and Income

1. Fill out Work and Income's online form: Hiring migrant workers — Work and Income

2. Include a job description that shows:

• the main tasks and responsibilities of the job
• the terms and conditions of the employment
• the minimum and maximum rate of pay or salary
• estimated actual earnings if the job pays by piece, commission, or there are other rates or bonuses
• the minimum guaranteed hours of work, and
• the location of the job.

The details should match what you will submit in your job check application.

3. Submit your application.

4. Work and Income will contact you within 5 working days to let you know that they:

• will list the job, or
• cannot fill the vacancy and you do not need to engage with them further.

If Work and Income does refer candidates who you think could be suitable, you must interview them.

When you apply for a job check

When you apply for a job check, you do not need to provide evidence that you listed the job with Work and Income — but you must keep the evidence in case we ask to see it later.

Evidence can include:

• a copy of the completed Work and Income form, including the date it was submitted, details of your business, title of the job available, the number of positions available, and ANZSCO code
• if the vacancy is listed by Work and Income, a screenshot of the listing
• communications with Work and Income, such as emails provided when the listing closed or if they advised they have no candidates available.

We may also contact Work and Income at any time to check you have engaged in good faith.

If you tell us in your job check application that you have engaged with Work and Income in good faith but we do not consider you to have done so:

• this can affect any current or future job check applications, and
• we may revoke your employer accreditation.