MEDIA RELEASE
7 July 2017
MAINFREIGHT - RESPONSE TO MBIE PUBLISHED STAND DOWN LIST
Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse revealed yesterday that 53 employers
have been stood down from recruiting migrant workers. Mainfreight is included
on that list.
Mainfreight''s name appears as a result of a compliance audit by MBIE last
year which identified that three of the company''s employees did not have
written employment agreements on file. The company has since taken steps to
manage this process better.
The three Mainfreight team members who did not have signed employment
contracts all still work for Mainfreight, in different parts of the business
in Dunedin and Auckland. All three of them are, and always have been, New
Zealand citizens without any visa complexity or elements to their employment.
They hold meaningful roles and are solid contributors in their branches.
Mainfreight draws its employees from a wide pool, and provided that
candidates have the necessary skills and attributes, the company is happy to
employ people with valid work visas. The impact of the six month temporary
stand-down period imposed by MBIE has been the removal of Mainfreight''s
ability to support or sponsor an individual''s application for an extension of
their work visa or residency application. In the main, this has meant that
Mainfreight has had to suspend their exchange programme of bringing overseas
team members to New Zealand for developmental purposes. A strange outcome
given the nature of the transgression.
Mainfreight has paid a high price in bad publicity for what is basically an
administrative error. The increasing reach of bureaucracy continues to
amaze.
Bruce Plested
Chairman
Mainfreight
- Ends -
For further enquiries contact:
Mainfreight Limited
2 Railway Lane, Otahuhu, Auckland 1062
PO Box 14038, Panmure, Auckland 1741
Email: don@mainfreight.com
+64 274 961 637
End CA:00303761 For:MFT Type:GENERAL Time:2017-07-07 13:19:51