Annual Report 2008/09
3. Outcomes and Achievements
THE DEPARTEMENT REFINED ITS INTERMEDIATE OUTCOMES AND KEY AREAS OF FOCUS TO ACHIEVE THE DEPARTMENT'S OUTCOME OF PRODUCTIVE WORK AND HIGH-QUALITY WORKING LIVES. THE DEPARTMENT'S ACHIEVEMENTS FOR THE 2008/09 YEAR ARE DETAILED ON THE FOLLOWING PAGES UNDER THE FOUR INTERMEDIATE OUTCOMES AND THEIR ASSOCIATED KEY AREAS OF FOCUS.
Each key achievement helped the Department move closer to its outcomes and the Government's priorities.
Full details of the Department's achievements during the year are included in the statement of objectives and service performance and the financial statements in this report.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK
| Departmental Outcome |
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|---|---|---|---|
Productive Work and High-Quality Working Lives |
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| INTERMEDIATE OUTCOMES |
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| 1. OUR PLACE IN New Zealand will prosper and be enriched through its connections with the rest of the world. |
2. OUR WORKPLACES: New Zealand workplaces will raise the value of work and the quality of working lives. |
3. OUR WORKFORCE: New Zealand businesses will be able to recruit and retain the skilled workers they need to be internationally competitive. |
4. OUR PEOPLE: All New Zealanders will be able to grow and develop through access to meaningful employment. |
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KEY AREAS OF FOCUS |
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Supporting New Zealand's prosperity and reputation through:
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Supporting and promoting productive workplace cultures through:
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Influencing the supply of skilled labour by:
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Supporting increased labour market participation by advising government on:
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Intermediate Outcome 1- Our Place in the World
New Zealand will prosper and be enriched through its connections with the rest of the world.
In a globalised economy, New Zealand's international connections are crucial to its prosperity and security as we compete in a number of areas which influence our social and commercial success. The Department builds and maintains worldwide connections and relationships through the management of New Zealand's immigration services and engagement with global and regional organisations such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), which contribute to international labour standards and best practice.
The Department facilitates the entry of visitors and international students and this also contributes to New Zealand's economic growth. It also provides security to prevent the entry of people who may adversely affect our international reputation and business communities. To ensure new migrants integrate well and contribute to New Zealand's economy and society, the Department facilitates services to help migrants settle into our communities.
Involvement with global and regional organisations enables us to further New Zealand's international interests in the labour standards, migration, security and humanitarian spheres. By partnering with other countries through the negotiation and implementation of labour agreements, the Department has established ongoing international relationships that benefit our economy. Engagements in key migration organisations further enhance New Zealand's relationships particularly with other migrant-receiving countries.
Contributing achievements during 2008/09 include the following:
Immigration services that add to the productivity of our economy and to the richness of our society
Initiating the Immigration New Zealand Change Programme (INZCP)
The INZCP was initiated to ensure Immigration New Zealand is able to provide a world-class immigration service, while addressing the recommendations of recent reviews.
The INZCP has been designed to deliver a step change in Immigration New Zealand's service delivery with a focus on 'repairing' what needs fixing, 'rebuilding' from a base of experienced and dedicated staff, and 'reinvesting' in capability via a tools, people and business-process change approach. This significant change programme will be implemented progressively over the next two years.
During the year, the Department provided papers on the scope and the INZCP's progress to the Minister of Immigration. A comprehensive, integrated programme structure was developed, a Programme Management Office is in the process of being established and project streams are underway.
Past and current reviews
As part of the INZCP a substantive programme of work was initiated to implement the recommendations of previous year's reviews and reviews that were completed during 2008/09. A monitoring programme was established to ensure that the recommendations of these reviews are appropriately implemented. At the end of June 2009, 137 of 226 recommendations had been closed, leaving 89 to be resolved including the 19 recommendations from the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) Report on their inquiry into immigration matters.
In response to the Pacific Division review, options for reintegrating the activities of Pacific Division into core service delivery were developed for discussion with the Minister of Immigration in May 2009.
The OAG Report on their inquiry into immigration matters was released in May 2009. The recommendations have been incorporated into the review monitoring programme. The first major piece of work began, addressing the OAG recommendations, and will result in a robust process for monitoring the quality of visa and permit decision-making across Immigration New Zealand.
Immigration Bill
The Immigration Bill arises from a fundamental review of the Immigration Act 1987 and was introduced to the House in 2007. In July 2008, the Bill was reported back by the Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee. In March 2009, the Bill was read for the second time.
In 2008, an Immigration Act Implementation Programme completed the high level design and analysis work based on the draft Immigration Bill, taking into account the recommendations of the Select Committee report. The Programme closed in October 2008 due to the non-enactment of the Bill prior to the General Election.
The project was restarted in April 2009 in order to implement the new Act (when passed) through the delivery of trained staff, enhanced systems, processes and associated tools. A major focus of the project will be to enable the Department's smooth and successful transition to the new legislation when the new Act comes into force, and to support the Department's customers and staff through the transition with quality and timely communications and tools.
Immigration Advisers Authority
On 4 May 2009 the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007 was enacted with onshore immigration advisers required to be registered with the Immigration Advisers Authority. During the year the Authority implemented its policies and procedures for initial licensing, including streamlining licensing under the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Act 1997, developed policies and processes for renewal of licences and commenced investigation activities.
Facilitating visitors, students and permanent migrants entry
Despite the economic downturn, an emerging opportunity for New Zealand has been the increasing number of international students approved to study in New Zealand. During the year there were 95,552 student approvals, up from 89,720 in the previous year. The Indian student market grew by 41% in 2008/09 and is forecast to grow further in coming years.
The Department continued to work closely with Education New Zealand, and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise to facilitate the entry of international students into New Zealand. The export education industry currently contributes an estimated $2.1 billion to New Zealand's Gross Domestic Product and supports over 32,000 full-time equivalent jobs, and is recognised as a significant contributor to the New Zealand economy.
Visitor visa decisions in the Asia/Middle East region fell by 5% from 76,242 in 2007/08 to 72,465 in 2008/09. However the market is expected to recover rapidly in 2010.
The Department achieved the 2008/09 New Zealand Residence Programme with 46,097 people approved for residence, a similar level to the 46,077 people approved for residence in 2007/08. Residence was granted to 8,946 partners and dependent children of New Zealand citizens and residents (including expatriate New Zealanders) and to 5,100 parents, adult children and adult siblings. Under the international/humanitarian stream, 3,504 people also had their residency approved. Immigration research has shown that overall migrants have contributed 68% more in taxes than they received in benefits and services reflecting the economic contribution they have made to New Zealand.
Immigration research
The Department undertook research on the economic impacts of immigration. This research aimed to understand the interaction between immigration and economic performance, including the short-term impact of immigration. A number of studies were released including reports on the impact of immigration on the labour market outcomes for New Zealanders, labour market outcomes for migrants and the labour market adjustment of immigrants to New Zealand.
Border security arrangements that manage risk
The Department is responsible for ensuring the integrity of the border and managing the risks associated with immigration. This involves keeping out individuals who present an unacceptable risk to New Zealand while facilitating the movement across the border for the vast majority. It also includes ensuring compliance with New Zealand's Immigration Act 1987.
During 2008/09, 1,347 people were prevented from boarding aircraft for New Zealand using the advanced passenger processing and risk targeting programme to screen travellers. This is an increase from 1,024 in 2007/08 and reflects the Department's continuing success in moving the border 'offshore'. A further 999 individuals were denied entry to New Zealand and returned to their country of origin.
In June 2009, the Department joined the Five Country Conference (FCC) as a full member. FCC comprises immigration officials from Australia, the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and New Zealand, and engages in ongoing strategic initiatives on immigration and border security. Becoming a full member gives New Zealand a significant opportunity to maximise the value of multi-agency collaboration while providing new avenues for relationship building with like-minded countries.
Enforcing the Immigration Act 1987
The Department facilitated the voluntary departure, removal and permit regularisation of over 1,900 people. Integral to this is the provision of information and advice to support employers, education providers and community groups to understand and adhere to their legal obligations with the aim of achieving improved compliance. Since 2004 the rate of overstaying in New Zealand has fallen consistently, from over an estimate of over 20,000 overstayers to the current figure which is under 16,000.
The Department's Fraud Branch works to uphold the integrity of the Immigration Act 1987 through the investigation and prosecution of offences against it. To support the targeting of resources the Department maintains a Fraud Assessment Panel. The Panel comprises senior managers who screen and allocate immigration fraud allegations to ensure the best outcome for each allegation is identified and actioned as early as possible.
Assisting migrants to settle
The New Zealand Settlement Strategy forms the basis of the Department's contribution to settlement outcomes for migrants and refugees. The Strategy's message is that settlement is a two-way commitment. During the year the Department continued to lead and coordinate the implementation of the Strategy. The Department also contributed to the Strategy by supporting migrant's information needs so that migrants can settle quickly.
Settlement information products and web material were provided to migrants, both offshore and onshore. The Department launched the Welcome that Works DVD in August 2008 to support employers seeking to retain skilled migrants in their workplace. The DVD contains information on the support that migrants require in and out of the workplace. This has been vital for New Zealand employers as some occupations have continued to experience skill shortages during 2008/09, and migration accounted for 60% of the increase in the working age population between 2001 and 2006.
In collaboration with local government and non-government organisations, Settlement Support New Zealand continued to operate in 19 local areas connecting migrants and refugees with information and services they may need to support their settlement. In 2008/09 there was a 21% increase in demand for these services compared to the previous year.
The Department has been undertaking a multi-year longitudinal survey of permanent migrants to explore their settlement outcomes. The New Faces, New Futures- New Zealand report was released showing overall positive outcomes across a range of settlement indicators. The study showed that migrants tend to be well educated and have high labour force participation rates. Migrants also tend to have prior connections to New Zealand before arrival and would encourage others to migrate to New Zealand. However, one in four migrants reported experiences of discrimination. Migrants noted the importance of maintaining family and cultural connections for positive settlement.
Holding the National Refugee Resettlement Forum
The Minister of Immigration opened the National Refugee Resettlement Forum in May 2009. The forum enabled the Department to consult with government and non-government organisations on issues facing them and consider how to make the best use of collective resources. The key issues covered in the forum were mental health and housing.
Approximately 100 stakeholders attended representing government agencies, non-government service provider agencies and resettled refugee communities. Representative for the UNHCR and International Organisation for Migration also provided international updates at the conference.
Contributing to effective international standards
The Department represented New Zealand at the ILO's biannual Governing Body meetings and at the 98th session of the International Labour Conference. At the Conference, the Department participated in the drafting committee established to deal with the development of the Global Jobs Pact. The Department's involvement was positively commented on by other delegations, ILO employer and worker representatives, and senior ILO Office staff.
During the year, the Department attended various migration related multilateral fora where international standards were reviewed and discussed. Work at the APEC Business Mobility Group meetings included improving the APEC Business Travel Card, making the Travel Card more useful and accessible for business people travelling between APEC nations.
The Department also engaged in fora which encourage best practice in the migration, security, settlement and humanitarian areas; in particular participating in UNHCR meetings.
Building relationships and partnering with other countries including the Pacific region
New Zealand has existing trade and labour arrangements with Thailand, China and under the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement ('P4 Agreement') with Singapore, Chile and Brunei Darussalam. During 2008/09, the Department participated in activities with:
- Thai officials associated with exchanging information on health and safety systems and practices.
- Chinese officials involved in establishing the arrangements for the first Labour Committee meeting under the Memorandum of Understanding on Labour Cooperation between China and New Zealand.
The Department met with officials from P4 Agreement countries and presented its cooperative activity project on youth employment.
Departmental officials represented New Zealand at the annual APEC Human Resources Development Working Group meeting. At the meeting, the human resources and labour market responses to the global financial crisis were discussed. New Zealand's proposal for 'promoting good practice and policies for young people's work in APEC economies' was presented and will be partly funded by APEC in 2010.
The Department continued to develop and expand its multilateral and bilateral relationships ensuring our global presence was maintained. This was illustrated through constructive technical assistance partnering in the Pacific, including the Department's response to the request to undertake a review of the Tuvalu Immigration Act. The Department provided the technical expertise to strengthen Tuvalu immigration legislation, including compliance with international standards.
The Department also hosted migration knowledge-sharing visits including visits by officials from Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Niue, Tonga, Japan, Germany and the UNHCR.
Implementing the China Free Trade Agreement
The New Zealand/China Free Trade Agreement (FTA) came into force on 1 October 2008. The Department ensured that processes and systems were in place to manage the FTA's immigration components. This included operationalising policies making it easier for Chinese business people to travel to New Zealand to do business and enabling Chinese workers with specialist skills to work here temporarily. A new Working Holiday Scheme with China also allows up to 1,000 young Chinese citizens per annum to holiday and work in New Zealand. In 2008/09, 660 people were approved under this scheme.
The Memorandum of Understanding on Labour Cooperation (MoU) between New Zealand and China also came into force on 12 September 2008. The MoU is the first time China has signed a legally binding inter-governmental agreement on trade and labour. The MoU allows both countries to discuss and promote sound labour practices. The Department started to implement the MoU with the initial focus on relationship building and the establishment of institutional processes.
Managing the humanitarian stream of the immigration programme
The 2008/09 refugee quota was achieved with 701 refugees granted residence as part of the New Zealand Residence Programme. The Department continued to contract Refugee Services Aotearoa New Zealand to oversee the resettlement of these quota refugees in their first year in New Zealand.
During the year, the composition of the 2009/10 refugee quota was signed off by the Ministers of Immigration and Foreign Affairs and was presented at the National Refugee Resettlement Forum.
In 2008/09, the Department received 246 new claims for refugee status and made 242 decisions, meeting New Zealand's international obligations. To ensure the integrity of the granting of refugee status under the Refugee Convention, the Department also assessed 101 potential cancellation files which resulted in 12 refugee claims being cancelled.
The Department worked with Refugee Services, Refugees as Survivors, the Auckland Refugee Coalition and the Auckland Regional Council to coordinate a regional community focused event on World Refugee Day. The event was extremely well attended by communities with refugee backgrounds.
Intermediate Outcome 2 - Our Workplaces
New Zealand workplaces will raise the value of work and the quality of working lives.
Future economic growth and social wellbeing rests on how well the economy and labour market adjust to new challenges. Managing the challenges associated with the recession is the way in which businesses and workers preserve profitability, and retain skilled staff to ensure a rapid recovery. These challenges provide the opportunity to learn and develop effective business practices that will improve New Zealand's ongoing productivity in the longer term.
To work productively businesses and workers need efficient workplace practices. The Department's regulatory role sits within this by providing the information, support and tools needed to ensure workplaces meet regulatory standards without unnecessary costs.
Productive workplaces utilise the skills that are available while seeking new and better ways to improve their operations. Smart business practices such as these lead to real improvements in the quantity and quality of the products and services provided resulting in greater resilience, profit and economic growth.
Contributing achievements during 2008/09 include the following:
Effective labour market regulation
Responsive labour market regulation contributes to higher-performing workplaces. During the year the Department developed a number of key changes to labour market regulation. Key legislative changes that took effect on 1 April 2009:
- The 90 Day Trial Period allowing employers who employ 19 or fewer employees to employ new employees for a trial period. This encourages employers to give job seekers an opportunity to prove their skills.
- The Health and Safety in Employment regulation changes to protect young contractors by restricting those under the age of 15 from working in high-hazard workplaces and from doing work that is likely to injure them, such as working with machinery, driving heavy vehicles and lifting heavy loads. The regulations also restrict contract workers under the age of 16 from working at night unless the work is done in accordance with an approved code of practice.
In addition, the Health and Safety in Employment (HSE) Amendment Bill (No 2) was introduced into Parliament, and is awaiting its first reading. The Bill amends the HSE Act 1992 to improve clarity for employers in multi-business workplaces, ensure consistency with the Evidence Act 2006, and provide a funding mechanism for the Department's enforcement of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 in workplaces.
Ensuring fundamental rights at work
Ensuring fundamental rights at work is about making sure that New Zealand workplaces are safe, healthy, non-discriminatory and non-exploitative. This covers health and safety practice, and employment conditions such as minimum wages and employment agreements. A number of legislative changes occurred during the year focusing on strengthening basic rights at work. This included the Employment Relations (Breaks, Infant Feeding and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2008 that became law on 1 April 2009 (see Intermediate Outcome 4).
Other achievements during 2008/09 included the start of a review of the Holidays Act 2003 to simplify the Act so it is easier for employers to understand and administer, while maintaining existing entitlements. The Advisory Group was set up in June 2009 and has nearly finalised its work programme. In 2009/10 the Advisory Group will invite written submissions on the review.
Promoting social dialogue on workplaces of the future
In April 2009, the Department launched a review of the Workplace Health and Safety Strategy for New Zealand to 2015 by inviting public involvement in the review. Launched in 2005, the Strategy aims to lift New Zealand's health and safety performance. This will improve business productivity and reduce the number of New Zealanders seriously hurt or killed at work.
In May 2009, the Department was the Platinum Sponsor for the Safeguard National Health and Safety Conference. The Conference, attended by health and safety professionals, was a success with 89% of delegates commenting the Conference was either excellent or very good[1].
In parallel with the Safeguard National Health and Safety Conference, the Department brought together senior business leaders from New Zealand's largest companies at a Chief Executive's Health and Safety Forum to promote the concept of industry leadership for health and safety.
In June 2009 the joint initiative with the Hoani Waititi Marae Trust in Auckland, Manaakitanga i o tatou marae ('taking care of our marae'), won the Excellence in Crown-Maori Relationships Award at the IPANZ Gen-I Public Sector Excellence Awards. The initiative arose following a fatal accident and the establishment of a mutual and co-operative working relationship. This relationship has helped improve workplace practice at the Marae, including better health and safety, and employment practices.
The Department and the New Zealand Institute of Safety Management signed a Memorandum of Understanding formalising the relationship between the two organisations to improve workplace practices and reduce work related injuries and fatalities. The Institute is the professional organisation for people who are interested or involved in the management and development of occupational health and safety.
Raising awareness and expectations to facilitate improved workplace practices
In the past year, many New Zealand businesses have been finding times tough. They have been looking for ways to get through difficult times while maintaining employees' jobs.
A gap analysis of the Department's website resulted in the development of a dedicated webpage, Surviving Tough Times, with information on business basics, productivity, restructuring and redundancy, problem solving, and links to other help available. The information provides ideas on how businesses can survive and advice for employers and employees if restructuring occurs.
The Department produced the 'Keeping Work Safe' policy statement, including an accompanying DVD, on enforcing the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992. The policy and DVD launched at the Safeguard National Health and Safety Conference provide case studies on what happens after a serious incident, and how the Department uses enforcement to improve workplace practices. The policy is available on the Department's website.
The Puataunofo project, a programme promoting health and safety for Pasifika workers in Manukau received the judges' Commendation Award in the 'Best Initiative to Encourage Health and Safety' category at the Safeguard Health and Safety Awards. Parliament congratulated the Puataunofo project for the Safeguard award and its efforts to reduce accident rates amongst Pacifika workers.
For most New Zealanders summer is a time of celebrations, unfortunately it is also the time that workplace fatalities peak. This peak is thought to be due to seasonal variations in the agriculture industry, the industry with the highest fatality rate. In line with the Workplace Health and Safety Strategy for New Zealand to 2015, the Department ran a 'seasonal fatalities' campaign for the second year seeking to highlight the impact of and reduce the number of workplace deaths and injuries. The campaign ran from December 2008 through to June 2009.
The annual Workplace Service Excellence Survey was conducted in June 2009. The survey measures satisfaction with overall quality of service delivered by the Department and customer perceptions on whether workplace changes were made following contact with the Department. Interim survey results show high levels of satisfaction with the services delivered and a reasonable level of workplace changes following Departmental contact.
Key insights from the survey and subsequent focus group discussions will be used to identify areas for improvement.
Focusing attention on workplace productivity
The Workplace Productivity Agenda aims to increase the value of what New Zealand produces by working in more effective and efficient ways and by doing so lifting New Zealand's living standards and wealth. A State Services Productivity Resource Kit designed to help state sector workplaces to achieve productivity improvements was distributed to state sector workplaces.
The Department completed four private sector workplace productivity demonstration projects. The full evaluation of these projects will be available in early 2009/10. Findings to date indicate:
- Assistance tailored to the individual firm is much more effective than a 'one size fits all' approach.
- The 'readiness' of the firm is crucial to a successful outcome.
- Firms will invest in improving workplace practices once they can see the benefits.
- Change was unlikely to have happened without the kick start from this initiative.
The Department funded multi-year workplace productivity projects that were established during the year:
- Dairy NZ is leading a project to improve human resources practices on dairy farms.
- The Canterbury Development Corporation is leading a project to establish advisory boards to raise management capability in Canterbury's information and communication technology industry.
- The Lower Hutt Chamber of Commerce is running a series of workshops to prepare firms for innovation in the manufacturing sector in their region.
Building firm capability to support managers and workers to better develop and utilise skills
The Department continued to focus on helping businesses to strengthen their capabilities to support managers and workers to better develop and utilise skills.
In partnership with ACC and PF Olsen Limited (on behalf of the New Zealand Forest Owners Association), the Department hosted networking events to promote a positive safety culture in the forestry industry and to see how positive safety culture could be applied. The year long pilot project aims to develop tools and approaches that can be shared across the forestry and other sectors.
On 30 June 2009 the Department celebrated 100 years of employment mediation with an event held at Parliament. At the event the Minister of Labour launched a book, Contemporary Mediation Practice: Celebrating 100 Years of Employment Mediation, which is a compilation of essays written by Departmental mediators on mediations undertaken by the Department. A code of ethics for mediators employed by the Department was also launched.
Intermediate Outcome 3 - Our Workforce
New Zealand businesses will be able to recruit and retain the skilled workers they need to be internationally competitive.
New Zealand needs a workforce that is adaptable and resilient - available and able to undertake new, more efficient work and use new technologies. The Department provides labour market information to industry and education decision-makers so that New Zealand's workforce is better able to adapt to the changing environment, and is well placed for future improvements in the economy.
Although New Zealanders continue to be given first preference in the labour market, New Zealand still needs to supplement its workforce with migrants who possess skills that our employers need. During the year, skill shortages continued in a number of areas despite the recession. Targeted immigration was used as a tool to address these short and medium-term workforce needs.
Contributing achievements during 2008/09 include the following:
Targeting immigration to assist New Zealand businesses to access the skills they need
Providing temporary workers
The downturn in the New Zealand economy and the consequential softening of the labour market had a major impact on temporary work visa and permit decision-making. Overall numbers of general work decisions fell by 6% with 138,044 decisions in 2008/09 compared to 147,168 in 2007/08. In addition, decline rates (i.e. the proportion that are not approved) for work visa and permit decisions increased substantially. Between 1 January and 30 June 2009, 7.3% of visas and permits were declined, significantly higher than the 2007/08 decline rate of 4.4%.
Interest in Working Holiday Schemes (WHS continued to be high with a 14% increase in WHS decisions compared to the previous year. In 2008/09, 41,980 WHS decisions were made; the overwhelming majority of these were processed online.
Changes to the Immediate Skill Shortage List
The Department undertakes periodic reviews of the skill shortage lists to ensure that they are responsive to changes in labour market conditions. In June 2009, 44 occupations, or 33% of the occupations on the Immediate Skills Shortage List, were removed. These occupations were either considered to be occupations where someone could be readily trained to undertake the work or there were New Zealanders available to do the work; part of the 'New Zealanders first' principle. This means that any temporary work applications for these occupations now have to be labour market tested before an application can be approved.
Implementing the Essential Skills Policy for temporary workers
The Essential Skills policy was implemented, replacing the General Work policy. The new policy differentiates between lower and higher-skilled temporary workers and continues the 'New Zealanders first' principle - increasingly important during 2008/09 with rising unemployment. Under this policy, one of the new requirements for lower-skilled job vacancies is that employers need to notify Work and Income to ensure that there are no suitable New Zealanders available to undertake the work.
In 2008/09, 45,056 Essential Skills applications were accepted for processing. Of these, 39,554 applications were decided with 34,415 being approved.
Meeting seasonal labour needs
The Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme continued to provide a long-term solution to labour shortages in the horticulture and viticulture industries. The scheme facilitates the temporary entry of additional workers from overseas to work in the horticulture and viticulture industries to meet their need for seasonal labour. In recognition of the high demand for seasonal labour, the cap on the number of RSE workers was increased from 5,000 to 8,000 places.
During the year, a further 39 employers were granted RSE status giving them access to this scheme and 7,666 RSE visa and permit applications were decided. A further 2,887 Transitional Recognised Seasonal Employer (TRSE) permit applications were decided, supplying workers for organisations working towards RSE accreditation.
The balance of the education and enforcement approach to RSE compliance operations continued to be well received by the industries. During the year, the Department undertook an education initiative with Northland growers, which is currently being evaluated with early indications suggesting that the initiative was successful.
An evaluation of the first season of the RSE scheme was completed and found that overall the scheme worked well for workers, employers and Pacific countries. The evaluation found that employers felt they had a reliable workforce, workers returned home with savings and the immigration risks were managed. Some implementation issues were identified such as the recruitment lead-in time and dispute resolution - many of these issues were subsequently addressed by the Department.
A new Supplementary Seasonal Employer policy was developed to replace the TRSE policy and will be implemented in early 2009/10. Under this new policy, employers will be granted an Approval in Principle to recruit workers and workers will be able to work for a maximum of six months. To ensure that New Zealanders employment prospects are not undermined, labour market checks will be conducted as part of the process.
Promoting New Zealand to skilled workers
The Department's offshore branches continued to promote New Zealand to potential skilled migrants and provided support to New Zealand employers, such as District Health Boards, looking to recruit workers from overseas. Offshore branches participated in various promotional events aimed at potential migrants, for example attending an event in Ireland that was dedicated to attracting skilled health staff.
Supplying skilled migrants
The Skilled Migrant Category was introduced in 2003. It is aimed at recruiting skilled and qualified migrants who can gain highly skilled work in New Zealand.
Skilled Migrant Category approvals increased by 1,577 people compared to 2007/08. Within the skilled/business stream of the New Zealand Residence Programme. The proportion of residence decisions made by onshore branches continued to increase as the source of skilled migrants has increasingly become temporary skilled workers and international students who are already in New Zealand. A total of 80% of Skilled Migrant Category principal applicants approved for residence had a job or job offer in New Zealand.
During 2008/09 the policy was changed to allow five years of relevant skilled work experience to substitute for a degree-level qualification. This reflects the high level of skills that an applicant may have obtained without a degree qualification. In addition, the Department is now able to compare the market rate to an applicant's remuneration rate, when assessing whether an offer of employment is skilled, or whether the offer of employment creates an unacceptable risk to the integrity of New Zealand's immigration and employment policies. This was designed to ensure that applicants cannot undercut skilled New Zealanders when applying for jobs.
Working with industry and education sectors to help match education and training to the needs of our workers and employers
Leading the New Zealand Skills Strategy
The Department led the multi-agency Skills Strategy Action Group that developed the Skills Strategy Action Plan 2008/2009, which was launched in July 2008. Its implementation plan was released in October 2008. Major achievements included identifying sectors for management capability projects, implementing work to raise awareness of the benefits of literacy and numeracy in the workplace and developing the SkillsInsight Tool.
Launching the SkillsInsight Tool
The SkillsInsight Tool was launched, providing quantitative evidence about the supply of and demand for labour in New Zealand. The tool has been designed to identify workforce skill flows and levels and predict future demand. The online tool generates demographic characteristics and industry compositions for occupation groups.
Stakeholders have used the SkillsInsight Tool to assist in labour market planning and analysis to improve labour market matching. In addition, it provides information to assist in the review of Immigration New Zealand's skill shortage lists.
Producing employment and skills snapshots
As part of the SkillsInsight Programme, the Department produced the first of a series of employment and skills snapshots. These analyse past and future trends in industries that were considered to be at risk in the current economic downturn. Snapshots of the retail trade, manufacturing and construction industries were produced. The contextualised occupational information in these reports was also used to inform Immigration New Zealand's skills shortage lists.
Launching the Oil and Gas Industry Skills Action Plan
The Oil and Gas Industry Skills Action Plan, Producing the Talent, was launched in October 2008. The plan proposed phased actions to address critical skill needs for the oil and gas industry which is projected to create an additional 6,000 jobs in Taranaki by 2026. The Department has been working with the industry on implementing the plan.
Working with horticulture and viticulture industries
The Department has worked with the horticulture and viticulture industries on seasonal labour issues since 2004. During that period, one of the successful outcomes has been the development and implementation of the RSE scheme.
During the year the Department co-chaired the national governance group of the Seasonal Labour Strategy. The Department managed productivity projects in Marlborough and Hawke's Bay that targeted the improvement of business performance and labour management amongst labour contractors.
Creating a cross-sector seasonal work marketplace
The Department provided leadership to support and coordinate the creation of a cross-sector seasonal work marketplace. Agriculture, horticulture, forestry, seafood and tourism industry leaders worked together to create regional initiatives to help ensure an effective and efficient seasonal work marketplace that will raise productivity, and remove barriers between employers and seasonal workers. The Department provided technical expertise, labour market information and forecasting to assist in their planning.
Working with the aged-care industry
The Department facilitated workshops with other government agencies, private care providers, unions and academics to establish a project for innovation in the aged-care industry. The Department produced a research report The Future Demand for Paid Caregivers in a Rapidly Ageing Society that informed the workshops.
Industry Training Organisation Strategic Leadership Project
As part of the Food and Beverage Taskforce, the Department scoped the feasibility of identifying the added value from industry training as there has been a lack of investment in training by the industry. The scoping study covered the seafood processing, horticulture and hospitality industries, and gained positive buy-in from the industries.
Meat industry engagement
The Department worked with the meat industry to develop an approach to addressing their skill and labour market issues. The Department is now leading a working group with the meat industry. The group has agreed a framework for actions on skills development, human resource practices, and certainty of income and training needs that will inform a skills-focused industry plan.
Labour market information for Tertiary Education
The Department developed the Jobs and Tertiary Education Indicator - an interactive tool that allows users to explore key facts about the fields of study, occupations, and industries of New Zealanders. The tool was used by Industry Training Organisations and Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics in the development of their strategic investment plans.
New National Monitoring Series: Youth in the Labour Market
In June 2009, the Department released Youth in the New Zealand Labour Market which is the first report of the new National Monitoring Series. This report provides up-to-date data on the characteristics, needs and prospects of youth in the New Zealand labour market. It also provides data on the impact of the current economic downturn on the youth labour market.
Engineers in the labour market
The Department released Engineers in the Labour Market as the result of collaboration between the Department, the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand and the Association of Consulting Engineers. It analysed the supply of and demand for engineers in New Zealand so workers' skills can be better matched to industry/regional needs.
The report is the foundation of one of the five contributing strands of the National Engineering Education Plan Project, which ensures that the right number of the right type of graduate is produced to meet New Zealand's needs.
Improving Literacy, Language and Numeracy (LLN) Skills in the Workforce: Upskilling Partnership Programme
The highly successful three year Upskilling Partnership Programme to increase employer engagement in workplace literacy, language and numeracy training was wound down at the end of June 2009, and arrangements for ongoing activities were put in place. Evaluation and research work, an integral part of the programme, has begun to provide evidence about what works in improving LLN skills in the workplace and the business benefits.
Intermediate Outcome 4 - Our People
All New Zealanders will be able to grow and develop through access to meaningful employment.
The Department is focused on keeping New Zealanders in work or in training in the current environment. People who are in work contribute to maintaining and growing the economy through their employment and their participation in the economy as consumers.
Barriers to participation prevent or discourage some groups from gaining employment, so developing policies to assist these people with transitioning into, or back into, the workforce and reducing barriers to participation are increasingly important. Enabling more people to participate in paid work, particularly higher-value or skilled work, assists in New Zealand's economic growth.
Contributing achievements during 2008/09 include the following:
Enhancing parents' and other carers' choices about work and family arrangements
Two key legislative changes came into force during 2008/2009 to assist workers back to employment following parental leave and to help people achieve a balance that works for them and their families.
- The Employment Relations (Flexible Working Arrangements) Amendment Act 2007 gives employees the right to request a flexible working arrangement if they have the care of another person. On its website, the Department provides advice and support by providing case studies and examples of flexible working arrangements.
- The Employment Relations (Breaks, Infant Feeding and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2008 provides minimum requirements for paid rest and unpaid meal breaks for employees. It also requires all employers to provide appropriate facilities and breaks for employees who wish to breastfeed or express during working hours. The changes were promoted via media releases, an 0800 contact line, factsheets to key groups and updates to the Department's website.
The Department also investigated the issues and challenges that men can face in combining paid work and parenting responsibilities, and supported work to further develop the New Zealand Carers' Strategy.
At the request of New Zealand Institute of Safety Management, the Department delivered a workshop to its members on work-life balance. The workshop explored the business benefits of employees' balancing their lives between paid work and leisure, particularly the relationship between work-life balance strategies, productivity and staff retention. The workshop was well received with attendees identifying opportunities to enhance the wellbeing of staff in their workplaces.
Enabling youth to transition into employment and to access relevant education and training
Youth who are inactive in the labour market and are not in training are more likely to have poor job outcomes when they are older. The Department worked to remove the barriers that discourage young New Zealanders from seeking employment. By providing labour market information and leadership, the Department collaborated with sectors and regions to improve youth labour market participation and prospects.
Working with the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs (MTfJ)
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Government and MTfJ agreeing to joint action plans to address youth employment matters and the impacts of the recession on communities. During the year the Department co-chaired the MTfJ Officials Group, which was tasked with developing action plans. The Department agreed to lead four of the action plans on:
- providing snapshots of youth data and comment by region
- leveraging employment from infrastructure investment
- developing a Pacific skills action plan
- implementing the Seasonal Work Marketplace project
Modern Apprenticeships for young Pacific People
The Department led an Auckland-based project to increase the participation of young Pacific people in the Modern Apprenticeships Scheme. The project seeks to address the low uptake by young Pacific people. Only 3% of Pacific people had taken up Modern Apprentices by 31 March 2009, compared to 15% by Maori and 77% by Pakeha/European.
Working with regional stakeholders, the Department developed a project proposal to identify, design and implement approaches that remove or reduce the impact of barriers to participation for Pacific people.
Transitioning people back to work and independence after an injury
ACC aims to support injured people by helping them to get back to work and everyday life as soon as possible. Monitoring rehabilitations and the return to work outcomes are a major focus of the Department's role in terms of improving labour market outcomes.
Significant progress was made on the Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill 2009 with a Cabinet paper sent to the Minister for ACC for approval. The amendments propose to change cover for work-related injuries, eligibility and entitlement to weekly compensation and entitlement and processes for vocational rehabilitation.
Enhancing employment for groups under-represented in the labour force
The Department provided labour market information about the current and future trends that impact on the workforce and workplace planning. It provided an evidence base through labour market research and analysis, and advised on strategies to optimise labour market participation.
Keeping people in work during the recession
The Department undertook a key role in providing support and advice on initiatives and issues flowing from the Prime Minister’s Summit on Employment (Job Summit) and on wider concerns about the economic recession, including youth employment.
The Department worked collaboratively with other government agencies such as the Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Education to develop initiatives to keep people in work during the recession. This has focused on:
- Policy advice on the continuation of training for apprentices and other industry trainees.
- Information and advice on the development of the Job Support Scheme, and the later extension of the Scheme to firms with less than 100 staff.
- Advice on the creation of a seasonal work marketplace, ways to support increased flexibility and firm survival and the labour market implications of tertiary education strategies and initiatives.
- Exploration of a Job Secondment Scheme.
Older workers: challenges and opportunities
The ageing of the baby boomer ‘bulge’ will have a growing influence on the size and composition of New Zealand’s workforce. Demographic forecasts show that by 2020 one in four workers will be aged over 55.
The Department completed reports on issues affecting the job mobility and employability of older New Zealanders and these were used as the basis of discussions with other government departments and relevant agencies. The meetings were useful for disseminating information on older workers and raising awareness about the challenges an ageing workforce presents for the New Zealand labour market.
The Department also produced a ‘myth buster’ flyer for employers and human resource practitioners that dispels misconceptions about older workers and highlights their positive attributes.
Improving labour market outcomes for Maori
The Department released the Tu Mai Iwi Tool in June 2008. The tool generates employment, training and skills data to iwi level and helps iwi identify their training priorities. The Department held training sessions for Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu on Tu Mai Iwi and the other regional tools. Members of the wider human resource/training community, Industry Training Organisations, Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics and the Ministry for Social Development also attended these sessions.
Footnotes
[1] Source: www.safeguard.co.nz