Once employer accreditation is approved a Job Check application can be made. This involves submitting details of any job advertising to evidence that genuine, but unsuccessful, endeavours have been made to recruit or train a New Zealander, or New Zealand resident, for the job role.

Particular care is required with the job advertising, as there are a number of requirements which must be met to ensure the Job Check application can be successful, and professional input is highly recommended. A Job Check can include multiple roles so long as these are for the exact same job, and are covered in the same job advert (e.g., 5 x painters required to work in Wellington).

The terms and conditions of the job must be clear in the job advertisement and the employer must genuinely consider any New Zealanders who apply. The advertising must:

  • be for a minimum of 2 weeks on a national job listing website or another advertising channel more likely to attract suitable New Zealanders to the specific role
  • show significant terms and conditions including the minimum and maximum pay rate, the minimum guaranteed hours of work, the location of the job
  • show estimated earnings if the pay is by piece rate, commission or bonuses not guaranteed
  • show minimum qualifications, work experience, skills or other specifications to do the job.
The Job Check also involves reviewing the proposed employment agreement terms and conditions, whether the credentials required to work in the role are reasonable and appropriate, and that all of these are in accordance with the AEWV policy requirements. The payrate must also be consistent with the market rate for the role, and be at least $27.76 ph – unless the role is one listed on the current exempt list (i.e.: some construction, tourism, hospitality and care sector roles) for which lower minimum payrates apply up to 1 April 2023.

Roles which are paying twice the median wage (i.e.: $115,482pa), or are on the INZ “Green List”, are not required to be advertised, however a Job Check application is still required to be made. The Green List comprises mainly highly skilled engineering, ICT, construction, and medical roles.

The Job Check application is undertaken on behalf of the employer (& not by the job applicant) and each job check is valid for 6 months or until the employer’s accreditation expires, whichever is earlier.

A Job Check application is taking around 10 working days to process and, once approved, a unique “Job Token/approval number” is allocated to each approved role.