Migrant workers in Queenstown face hardship as they get fewer hours than promised

The Queenstown Citizen Advice Bureau (CAB) is helping dozens of migrant workers who are struggling to pay rent and basic living costs because they are not getting the work hours they have been promised.

The bureau's general manager Tracy Pool said over the past two months they had been contacted by 30 to 40 people on accredited employer work visas, most working in cleaning companies and the hospitality sector.

Accredited employers are required to guarantee workers a minimum of 30 hours a week, but Pool said many workers are getting far less than that, and their plight is being exacerbated by the rising cost of living.

She said while these types of breaches were not new to Queenstown, the increase in case numbers has been significant recently, and she feared some may lose their accommodation.

"I think they're coming to the forefront more because money is tight in this town, because accommodation is tight.

"So that makes for a whole lot of staff that are really unsure of where they're going to live, and so that exacerbates when they start to lose their hours as well, and makes it really tough."

She said CAB has been helping workers negotiate with their employers, but only about a third have been willing to fix their mistakes.

Pool said the employers are a mix of those who were ill-intentioned and others who were unaware of their duties, or were struggling financially.

"I think in some ways there's definitely some exploitation of the migrants going on, in other cases it's maybe they just cannot simply afford it."

She said a couple of cases they have dealt with had employers who had lost contracts or were struggling during the tourism lull before the winter season kicked in.

Pool said over the past week the bureau had also seen 10 workers on accredited employer work visas who had been dismissed, and in some cases without a lack of proper redundancy processes.

She said all of the workers had been with their employers for under six months.

She said some accredited employers were not aware of their obligations and the government needed to do more to educate them.

"They need to educate the employers, when they sign up for the accredited scheme, they need to understand exactly what they're signing up for.

"They need to understand their obligations and what they have to provide for their employees," she said.