If you’re looking to recruit staff from offshore and/or have existing staff within the business holding Essential Skills temporary work visas, please review the below changes that are now in place.
The change concerns the updating of the remuneration thresholds used to determine skill level for temporary work visas (this impacts visa duration and conditions). The remuneration thresholds have been increased in line with their indexation to the NZ income data.
Temporary work visa remuneration thresholds have been adjusted as of 15 Jan 2018.
Background
The purpose of this is to advise you that government (the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment) has increased the temporary work visa (Essential Skills) remuneration thresholds in-line with indexation to NZ income data.
Temporary work visa (Essential Skills) policy is designed to enable employers to access temporary migrant workers when there are genuine skills and labour shortages.
At the end of August 2017 changes were made to temporary work visas (Essential Skills visa) that resulted in remuneration of the job offered being assessed alongside with the ANZSCO skills framework to under the skill level required for the job and the visa entitlements which a migrant is eligible for.
What has changed?
- A new temporary work visas (Essential Skills), including renewals, is assessed against the updated remuneration thresholds (see table below)
- Conditions or visa duration of the next visa could be different
- Mid-skilled roles with pay just over the old threshold of $19.97 are those positions likely to be affected
- For example:
- a chef paid $20 an hour would have previously been considered mid-skilled, as the occupation is ANZSCO level 2 and the pay was above the 2017 threshold of $19.97 per hour.
- today if the chef applied for a further work visa they are considered low skilled, unless their pay is increased to above the new 2018 threshold of $20.65 per hour.
How are the skill-band of employment determined for temporary work visas?
- Employment will be assessed as higher-skilled where the remuneration offered is greater than $36.44 per hour, regardless of the ANZSCO occupation.
- Employment will be assessed as mid-skilled where:
- the remuneration offered is between $20.65 per hour and $36.44 per hour (inclusive); and
- the employment substantially matches the description for a skill level 1, 2 or 3 occupation as set out in the ANZSCO.
- Employment will be assessed as lower-skilled where:
- the remuneration offered is less than $20.65 per hour, regardless of the ANZSCO occupation; or
- the remuneration offered is less than $36.44 per hour and the employment substantially matches the description for a skill level 4 or 5 occupation as set out in the ANZSCO.
Summary of 2018 remuneration thresholds
| Remuneration | ANZSCO L1-3 | ANZSCO L4-5 |
| More than $36.44 per hour | High-skilled | High-skilled |
| Between $20.65-$36.44 per hour | Mid-skilled | Low-skilled |
| Less than $20.65 per hour | Low-skilled | Low-skilled |
What hasn’t changed?
- Temporary work visas (Essential Skills) that people already hold will not be affected
- Changes to the income thresholds will not affect the duration or conditions of visas that have already been granted.
Summary of visa conditions (these haven’t changed)
| Skill band | Maximum Visa Length | Maximum number of Visa Renewals | Eligible to support partner/child visa |
| High-skilled | 5 years | Unlimited | Yes |
| Mid-skilled | 3 years | Unlimited | No |
| Low-skilled | 1 year | Up to three years (then stand-down period kicks in) |
No |
Where can I find more information?
Further information on changes to remuneration thresholds is available here.