Two Queenstown employees have been served with deportation liability notices following a joint-agency operation in the resort.
A Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) spokeswoman said, additionally, three infringement notices had been issued to Queenstown employers, and three visas held by individuals no longer residing in New Zealand were cancelled last month.
Eleven businesses were visited during the operation, which involved MBIE, Immigration New Zealand’s Investigations, Compliance, and Risk Verification teams, following complaints of breaches of employment and immigration legislation.
Labour Inspectorate southern region compliance manager Brendon Strieker said the Inspectorate’s focus was on ensuring minimum employment standards were being met and employers were doing the right thing by their employees.
"At the same time, the three teams from INZ checked to see employers were meeting their obligations with regard to the immigration responsibilities of migrant employees", Mr Strieker said.
The Immigration Compliance team supported labour inspectors at three visits, and visited 10 businesses where they served the deportation liability and infringement notices, Mr Strieker said.
"Educational engagements" were held with employers and staff and two accredited employer work visas (AEWV)were cancelled due to workers not complying with conditions of their visas.
The Immigration Investigations team visited five businesses and issued the two infringement notices.
The Risk and Verification team visited three businesses to work with employers and ensure their understanding of the AEWV obligations.
Mr Strieker said while the volume of migrant exploitation identified by the inspectorate across the country had decreased, the retail and hospitality sectors remained areas of "poor behaviour".
"Exploitation of vulnerable workers undermines the labour market by undercutting fair competition and causing great hardship to the individuals affected.
"As well as harming people and stifling innovation and productivity, it also harms New Zealand’s international image and trade."
INZ Risk and Verification national manager Geoff Scott said their approach involved educating and engaging with employers, while also taking necessary actions, such as issuing infringement notices, formal warnings or pursuing legal action, when required.
Mr Strieker said the Labour Inspectorate team was still reviewing data collected and was unable to provide details about what issues had been identified, and what further enforcement action might be necessary.
