Labour Market Test and Job Check Assistance — New Zealand

A Job Check touches immigration requirements and employment legislation at the same time — the advertising record, the employment agreement, the market-rate evidence, and the role-justification content in the form all need to hold up under Immigration New Zealand’s assessment. Legal input covers each of those elements before lodgement: reviewing the agreement for clauses that commonly cause declines, building a market-rate evidence pack that stands on its own, checking the advertising against the role’s current classification, and making sure the application is consistent with the employer’s accreditation history. Employers also often involve us when a Job Check is being prepared alongside an accreditation renewal, so the two pieces of work stay consistent. A pre-lodgement review is a relatively contained step that can prevent a round of requests for further information or, worse, a decline that triggers a 14-day reconsideration window.

The employment agreement attached to a Job Check is read by Immigration New Zealand for immigration purposes, but it remains a legally binding contract under employment legislation. Clauses that are acceptable in one frame can create issues in the other — trial-period wording that no longer meets the statutory test, bonding provisions that may be treated as recruitment-cost pass-through, overtime or pay-period terms that read differently from how the role is described in the Job Check form. Reviewing the agreement against both the immigration requirements and the employment legislation before it is lodged tends to prevent the most common reasons Job Checks are declined.

Depending on what was agreed with the candidate — including any conditional offer of employment, relocation cost arrangements, or pre-contract commitments — the employer may have exposure under employment legislation or contractual obligations even though the visa pathway has not opened. There are also reputational and relationship consequences that most employers want to avoid. The usual preventive measure is to keep the offer of employment conditional on the Job Check and the migrant’s visa, to stage any relocation costs accordingly, and to have those conditions clearly recorded in writing. If a decline has already happened in these circumstances, early legal input tends to clarify the position quickly.

Yes. A pre-lodgement review typically covers the advertising content and duration against the role’s classification, the Work and Income engagement record where it applies, the market-rate evidence pack, the employment agreement, and the Job Check form’s role-justification content itself. The output is a set of recommended adjustments rather than a guarantee of approval — Immigration New Zealand makes the decision on the evidence before it — but the review is the stage at which correctable issues are cheapest to fix. The depth of the review scales to the role, but the value is the same: catching issues before they become decline reasons.

Both routes are available, and the better choice depends on why the Job Check was declined. Reconsideration must be requested within 14 days of the decline and is decided on the original evidence only — it tends to be the right path where the decline reflects an interpretation issue rather than an evidence gap. Reapplication allows a rebuilt case with new or additional evidence, which tends to be the stronger path where the decline reflects thin market-rate evidence, unclear advertising records, or employment-agreement issues that can now be corrected. A focused review of the decision reasons, mapped against what was originally submitted, generally clarifies which route is more likely to resolve the issues. Because the reconsideration window is short, this is time-sensitive work.

The advertising evidence (copy, platform, dates, applicant logs), any Work and Income correspondence, the employment agreement and its variations, settlement-obligation evidence, and recruitment-cost declarations are all records that may be asked for on a post-decision audit or at accreditation renewal. Keeping these as a structured file rather than scattered across inboxes and folders makes them far easier to produce when they are requested. We can advise on a retention approach that reflects both the immigration requirements and the practical realities of your business.

Accreditation is the threshold: a business must hold current accreditation to submit a Job Check at all, and the accreditation carries its own ongoing obligations — settlement support, compliant employment practices, recruitment-cost rules. The Job Check is the role-level step that follows. Employment-law compliance sits alongside both — it is assumed by Immigration New Zealand when accreditation is granted, and it is tested again when the Job Check and later audits look at the employment agreement and recruitment practices. In practical terms, the three pieces reinforce each other: an employment agreement that meets the relevant legislation is generally easier to defend in a Job Check, and a business whose employment practices are in order is better positioned for accreditation renewal.

A suspended or revoked accreditation affects the basis on which existing migrant workers are employed under the Accredited Employer Work Visa, and can have implications for ongoing employment as well as for future hires. The practical response depends on the reasons for the suspension, the remedial steps available, and the nature of the existing employment arrangements. Because immigration requirements and employment obligations interact in these situations, early legal input tends to help employers understand their position and the steps available to them.