Set up to fail the most vulnerable: The Accredited Employer Work Visa

In August, the Human Rights Commission (HRC) released a report on Aotearoa New Zealand’s Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV).

What is the AEWV?

The AEWV is a scheme that was introduced in 2022 to bring more skilled workers into Aotearoa New Zealand. The initial intention of the AEWV scheme was to help industries in Aotearoa New Zealand recover from the impacts of COVID-19.

Through the visa, workers are tied to an accredited employer for employment for up to three years. Currently, the AEWV is the leading employment scheme for temporary work visas in Aotearoa New Zealand.

What were the key findings of the report?

1) Breaches of human rights

Similar to the HRC report on the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Scheme in 2022, the report on the AEWV scheme outlines findings of significant breaches of human rights.

The Human Rights Commission report on the Accredited Employer Work Visa, released in August 2024

It specifically refers to breaches regarding:

• The right to just and favourable working conditions

• The right to an adequate standard of living – housing and access to food

• The right to health

• The right to freedom of association

• The right to an effective remedy and access to justice

Key complaints from workers include being forced to stay in accommodation that is overcrowded, overpriced, cold, or poorly maintained; not being paid the wages that they were promised; being unfairly dismissed; or turning up to the country and not having a job at all.

Workers have also reported instances of verbal and physical abuse, threats of deportation, and manipulation by their employers.

2) Tying of visas to employers

Human rights groups have called for the Government to amend the AEWV so that workers’ visas are not tied to a specific named employer. The HRC report states that

“Tying of visas to a specific employer exaggerates power imbalance, is a serious human rights risk to workers, and is a primary system fault in facilitating migrant exploitation” (page 22 of the report).

Migrant worker representatives and advocates have raised concerns about the tying of visas since the AEWV was introduced in 2022. However, this aspect was not included in the changes the Government introduced for the scheme in early 2024. 

3) Instances of human trafficking and modern slavery

Concerns have been raised that the way workers are being brought to Aotearoa New Zealand under the scheme and subsequently treated is akin to human trafficking practices. 

The HRC report notes that although each situation must be individually assessed against the legal definition of human trafficking,

“The Commission heard from workers and key stakeholders that there is widespread recruitment of workers through either fraud or deception for profit. These allegations raise serious concerns that the settings of the AEWV scheme may be facilitating human trafficking, migrant exploitation and modern slavery” (page 24 of the report).

Previous reviews and changes to the AEWV

As we wrote about in June, a review of the AEWV in 2023 identified areas of significant concern, including that the volume of applications was putting immense stress on processing.

The 2023 review also noted that there were insufficient risk assessment processes for the scheme and that since the introduction of the AEWV, there have been many reports of migrant exploitation.

In 2024, the Government announced changes to the AEWV scheme, including stricter English language and minimum skill requirements.

However, these changes have so far been ineffective in protecting migrant workers from exploitation and mistreatment.

Building communities that stand for human rights

Key recommendations from the report include areas of improvement for our government, business, and community organisations. Everybody in Aotearoa New Zealand has a role to play in ensuring the protection of migrant workers.

We have a responsibility to stand up for the most vulnerable people in our communities and advocate for their human dignity - te mana o te tangata.

Promoting inclusion in our communities and seeking to support migrant workers is just one small step towards the protection of human dignity that we can all take.

However, there are further steps that the HRC report recommends:

• Educate community members on human rights and how it applies to migrant exploitation.

• Discuss migrant exploitation at community functions and events.

• Speak out about employers who use unethical recruitment procedures.

Migrant workers deserve far better than the treatment they are receiving. Sadly, the details of mistreatment, exploitation, and manipulation in the HRC report are not new information.

Instead, this report indicates that despite two years of organisations including Caritas raising concerns about the AEWV scheme and calling for human dignity to be prioritised, we’re likely to be kept waiting.