Everyone
Recruiter’s approach to ethical and sustainable work practices
Information about steps recruiters should take to make sure candidates are placed in workplaces where they are treated fairly and lawfully.
If you work as a recruiter or employment broker, you should be aware of employment-related risks when placing a candidate (prospective employee) with an employer (hiring company requiring workers).
It’s not in your candidate’s best interests to be placed in a workplace that has unfair or illegal work practices where they do not receive their legal rights and entitlements.
Placing candidates responsibly
To be seen as a trustworthy recruiter or employment broker, you have a duty to make sure the employers you work with have ethical and sustainable work practices (‘ethical and sustainable work practices’ means treating workers lawfully and in a fair and decent way that can be maintained over time).
Placing someone in a workplace that has unlawful or unfair work practices is likely to:
- affect their wellbeing
- contribute to poor work practices continuing
- affect your reputation and your ability to attract clients and candidates in the future.
Find out more about ethical and sustainable work practices:
About ethical and sustainable work practices
Before placing a candidate into a job, you should carry out due diligence on the employer to establish if they treat employees fairly and lawfully, and then follow up with the candidate after they start their role. This should be incorporated into your agency’s systems and processes.
Due diligence — what to check
As part of your due diligence process, you should check if the employer:
- undergoes checks or audits for compliance with employment standards
- has breached, or been investigated for a breach of, employment standards, employment agreements, or other terms and conditions agreed with their employees
- makes sure all employees receive all their wage and legal entitlements
- continues to treat employees fairly and lawfully once they start working.
Does the employer check it meets employment standards?
If an employer already undertakes checks or audits for compliance with employment standards, this may provide assurance that they are complying with the law.
Some industry associations require their members to undergo audits that include looking at how they treat their employees. Any issues found during an audit should have been addressed promptly, especially if employees were not getting their entitlements.
You can ask if the employer undertakes a third-party or internal audit that checks for fair treatment of workers including compliance with employment standards. If they do, they should provide the following details:
- name of the audit/certification/programme
- frequency of the audit
- when the audit was last done
- whether there were any issues identified and actions taken
- whether the employer is a member of an industry body or association, and if they are, which one.
Has the employer ever breached employment standards?
If the employer has breached employment standards, find out what they did to resolve the issue. Think carefully about the risks of placing a candidate with an employer that is being investigated.
You can ask the following questions.
- Is the employer currently on the employment or immigration 'stand-down list', after receiving a penalty for breaching employment standards or immigration law? (Employers on a stand-down list may be restricted from supporting visa applications for a period of time.)
- Has the employer ever employed migrant workers who are not allowed to work by Immigration New Zealand? If yes, details should be provided.
Immigration stand-down list – Immigration New Zealand(external link)
- Has the employer been in a position of authority in a company that has breached employment standards?
- Has the employer ever been investigated for, or found to have breached employment standards by the Labour Inspectorate, Employment Relations Authority or Employment Court? If you’re not sure, you can check their databases.
Determinations database – Employment Relations Authority(external link)
Judgements Database – Employment Court(external link)
- Is the employer currently involved in any legal proceedings claiming non-compliance with employment standards? This information may not be publicly available so you might need to request it from the employer directly. They do not have to tell you — but if they do not, this could help you decide whether you want to engage with them.
Does the employer make sure employees receive their entitlements?
To establish if the employer makes sure employees receive all their wage and other legal entitlements, you can ask the following questions. Ask for evidence that proves the responses.
- Do their employees have written individual employment agreements or collective agreements?
They must be able to answer ‘yes’ under the law. Check if the employment agreement contains all the mandatory clauses that are required. Find out more:
Creating an employment agreement
- Do they keep accurate and up-to-date records of wages, time, leave and holidays?
They must be able to answer 'yes' under the law. Find out more about record-keeping requirements below.
- Do they pay their employees the minimum wage or more for every hour worked?
They must be able to answer 'yes' under the law. Find out more about the requirement below.
- Do they give their employees regular payslips? Payslips are not mandatory, but employees can ask for one at any time, and their employer must provide them with information about their pay and leave.
They demonstrate good practice if they can answer 'yes'.
- Are employees provided with information about their employment rights?
They demonstrate good practice if they can answer 'yes'.
Our Employment Agreement Builder can help employers create a compliant employment agreement.
Employment Agreement Builder – business.govt.nz(external link)
Our employment learning modules are available for employers and their employees.
ADD LINK TO LEARNING MODULES
Following up with candidates after placement
Once a candidate has started in their role, you should check they are being treated lawfully and fairly. You can ask them the following questions.
- Were you given a copy of your written employment agreement, and can you access it?
- Are you given a regular payslip?
- Do you feel you know your employment rights? Have you been told where to find more information about them?
- Do you get paid at least the minimum wage for all the hours you work? Did you get paid while you were being trained for their job?
- Have any of your conditions changed or got worse since you started the job?
- Do you know who to talk to if you have concerns about your job?
- If boarding and meals are part of your pay, is the cost reasonable? Is your accommodation of a legal standard? For example, service tenancies must include working smoke alarms or detectors within 3 metres of each bedroom door. They must also have ceiling and under-floor insulation and an insulation statement. For more information, see:
Service tenancy – Tenancy Services(external link)
- Has your employer asked you to pay back any of your wages or made a deduction from your pay that you did not agree to in writing?
- Do you have to pay for your own safety equipment or anything you need to do your job? For more information, see:
- Are there written policies, or a code of conduct, to deal with bullying, sexual harassment or discrimination?
- Is there an employee or worker-voice platform that you can use to give feedback about your working conditions or any potential employment issues?
- Is there a way for you to report serious employment issues anonymously, for example, a whistleblowing hotline? Is there an internal escalation process and point of contact to report worker exploitation?
Monitor compliance with regular checks
Check in with the employee within the first month, after 6 months, and every year after that.
If any responses to the questions above raise concerns, discuss them with the employer and try to resolve the problem.
Ask them to tell you immediately if they:
- are investigated by the Labour Inspectorate or Immigration New Zealand
- change the working arrangements of any employees that you’ve placed.