New Zealand’s Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme provides horticulture and viticulture employers with workers from the Pacific to pack, maintain, harvest and pick crops. Similar to the Australian scheme, the RSE programme seeks to fill resource gaps in the receiving countries.
The LMU operates an agent based system of recruitment. Employers in New Zealand wishing to recruit workers from Solomon Islands are required to engage the services of a licensed agent to conduct the recruitment activities on their behalf. The employer must make contact with LMU prior to engaging the services of any of the recruiting agents and provide details of their intention and recruitment requirements. The licensed agent(s) is responsible for selection of Solomon Islands workers based on the recruitment guidelines provided by the LMU. It is a requirement that prior to submitting visa applications, the full list of selected workers must be provided to LMU to carry out their screening for suitability, character checks and to ensure the recruitment is done transparently and in accordance with the established principles and guidelines.
More information on the selection criteria for the schemes can be found on the Labour Mobility Unit page.