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Penalties for employers
Penalties for New Zealand employers found employing non-citizens in breach of their visa conditions include fines and suspension from being able to employ visa holders
New Zealand Immigration penalties for non-compliance
The New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment (MBIE) Department, under the Immigration Employment Infringement Scheme, is responsible for enforcing employer obligations under the NZ Immigration Act 2009 and the Worker Protection (Migrant and Other Employees) Act 2023.
When compared to other jurisdictions such as Australia, punishment in New Zealand for non-compliance seems barely a "slap on the wrist", but nonetheless can be quite impactful.
Whilst employers face fines of up-to AU$1.485m (NZ$1.66m) per breach (aggrevated offence) in Australia, the maximum fine in New Zealand is just NZ$3,000.
But that is in fact not a fair and direct comparison, as the New Zealand legislation specifies these fines for "low level offences". Whilst the very mention of "aggrevate offence" in Australia means the opposite of a low level offence.
So apart from the risk of criminal procedings, meagre fines for low level offences and the reputational risk, perhaps the greater consequence for NZ employers is the potential to added to the Immigration stand down list. This results in the employer being banned from employing visa holders for a set period or even indefinitely.
Relevant Legislation & Enforcement
Amendments to the New Zealand Immigration Act 2009 contained within the Worker Protection (Migrant and Other Employees) Act 2023 underpin the compliance obligations for employers in New Zealand. You can read more on our Legislation page.
Enforcement of these laws falls under the Immigration Employment Infringement Scheme.
The scheme allows MBIE Immigration to issue infringement notices to both accredited and non-accredited employers who commit low level offences, including if they:
- allow a person who is not entitled under the Immigration Act 2009 to work in the employer’s service to do that work
- employ a person in a manner that is inconsistent with a work-related condition of that person’s visa
- fail to provide documents requested by an immigration officer (under section 275A) within 10 working days.
Infringement penalties can include:
- a fine of NZD $1,000 for an individual, or NZD $3,000 for body corporate or other entity (companies)
- loss of accredited employer or Recognised Seasonal Employer status, and
- being banned (stood down) from supporting further visas for migrant workers for a period of time depending on the number of infringement notices the employer receives.
Importantly, more serious breaches "may result in criminal charges".
Fines and stand-down periods for breaching immigration law
| Fine | Stand-down period |
|---|---|
| Up to and including NZD $1,000 | 6 months |
| Over NZD $1,000 but less than NZD $10,000 | 12 months |
| Over NZD $10,000 but less than NZD $25,000 | 18 months |
| NZD $25,000 or more | 24 months |
Accredited employers
If you are an Accredited Employer you will also lose your accreditation status, in addition to being stood-down from hiring migrants.
After the stand-down period has ended you must show you have addressed the non-compliance issue and taken steps to make sure it does not happen again (such as implementing vSure). A business with compliance failures cannot be closed and opened again under a new name to avoid those failures. We still take the compliance issues of the previous business or key people into account.
Immigration stand down list
Employers cannot get their accreditation back or support visa applications while they are ‘stood down’. An employer can receive a 6-month stand-down for a single infringement notice, an extra 6-month stand-down for each subsequent infringement notice and a 12-month maximum stand-down for multiple notices issued at one time.
While an employer is on the stand-down list, they can continue to hire migrants on open work visas and continue to employ migrants who hold a current the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) for their business. When the stand-down ends the employer must show they have rectified the matter and improved processes to stop it happening again, before they can gain accreditation again under AEWV. MBIE will notify any employees that are on a AEWV that the employer has been placed on the stand down list
Any employers who have been penalised and temporarily barred from hiring migrant workers will be published on the Immigration New Zealand website. This list aims to increase transparency in the immigration system.
Stand-down periods
Immigration employment infringements
- 6 months for a single infringement notice
- 12 months for multiple infringements notices
The maximum stand-down for multiple infringement notices issued at once is 12 months.
Other Immigration Act offences
For the following Immigration Act offences, your stand-down period is determined by the fines you are given in court.
- Making a statement or giving information that is false or misleading — Section 342 (1) (a) of the Act.
- Helping someone to stay in New Zealand who is here illegally or does not meet their visa conditions — Section 343 (1) (d) of the Act.
- Resisting or obstructing an Immigration Officer — Section 344 (d) of the Act.
- Publishing or knowingly providing false or misleading information — Section 347 of the Act.
- Allowing someone to work for you when they are not entitled to — Section 350 (1) of the Act.
Statistics on prosecutions
In the first year of the infringement scheme (1 April 2024 to 1 April 2025), there were 121 infringement notices issued to 118 employers, leading to a total of NZD $363,000 in penalties.
| Financial year (1 July to 30 June) | 2024/25 |
|---|---|
| Infringements issued | 121 |
| Total employers issued infringements | 118 |
| Total amount of infringements (NZD) | NZD $395,000 |
The trend is towards more prosecutions and more stringent enforcement.
What does this all mean for employers?
In simple terms, all New Zealand employers must validate the legal Right To Work of all staff. Specifically this means:
- Verifying through collection of evidence, whether the employee is a New Zealand or Australian citizen; otherwise
- If they are a non-citizen, employers need to validate the worker's visa and conditions, in order to ensure they have the legal right to work and under what conditions.
How do employers comply?
New Zealand employers should take the necessary steps to collect / sight "proof of work rights" documents for all staff. Specifically this means:
- Proof of New Zealand or Australian Citizenship:
- NZ or Au Passport;
- NZ or Au Citizenship Certificate;
- NZ or Au Birth Certificate;
- OR Foreign Passport + a VisaView check; OR
- OR Foreign Passport + Visa Approval Letter; OR
- Best practice is Passport + Visa Approval Letter + VisaView + Visa Verification
Sound easy? If you only have a few employees, sure. But it is common for employers to not find this easy as their headcount grows. And this is where vSure comes in. We help streamline compliance, whilst delivering optimal employee experience.
How does vSure help?
vSure makes work rights compliance in New Zealand easy, by:
- Streamlining the collection of Proof Of Work Rights documents from all staff;
- Automating VisaView checks and Visa Verification checks; AND
- Automating visa monitoring throughout the cyucle of employment;
Would you like to know more? Reach out today to arrange a demo and a quote.