Agriculture & Horticulture · Employer knowledge

People, seasonal work & records

Match the employment arrangement to the reality of the work, keep agreements and hours accurate, and apply additional RSE requirements only where the business actually uses that scheme.

Agriculture and horticulture businesses can use permanent, fixed-term or genuinely casual employment arrangements, but the label must fit the real relationship. Employment New Zealand notes that seasonal work such as fruit-picking can be a genuine reason for fixed-term employment, but the employer must have a genuine reason based on reasonable grounds, tell the employee that reason and record it in the employment agreement. Casual employment is different: it generally involves no guaranteed work, no regular pattern and no ongoing expectation of employment.

The Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme is a separate immigration pathway for eligible horticulture and viticulture employers recruiting eligible overseas workers. Do not treat every seasonal worker as an RSE worker. RSE employers have additional Immigration New Zealand requirements, including RSE status, an approved Agreement to Recruit and scheme-specific employment and worker-support obligations.

What should a manager have in place?

Use employment arrangements that match how the person actually works. Keep the ordinary employment-law records for employees, and add scheme-specific records only where a programme such as RSE applies.

Correct work arrangementDecide whether the role is permanent, fixed-term or genuinely casual based on the real work pattern. For a fixed term, document the genuine reason and how or when the employment will end.

Agreements, hours & payKeep the required written employment agreement and accurate wage and time, holiday and leave records. Seasonal peaks do not remove minimum employment standards.

Seasonal & migrant workersWhere workers hold visas, make sure the employment is consistent with applicable immigration conditions. If using the RSE scheme, follow the current RSE and Agreement to Recruit requirements rather than applying generic seasonal-worker assumptions.

RSE-specific responsibilitiesFor RSE employers only, maintain the required worker-support arrangements, employment documentation and other current scheme obligations, including pastoral care and suitable accommodation requirements where applicable.

Manager check

Does the employment type written in the agreement match how the person actually works?
For every fixed-term employee, is there a genuine reason based on reasonable grounds and is that reason recorded appropriately?
Are genuinely casual workers being managed as casual rather than developing an unrecognised regular work pattern?
Are actual hours, pay, holidays and leave recorded accurately through busy and quiet seasons?
Where migrant workers are employed, have we checked the applicable work conditions rather than assuming all seasonal visas are the same?
If we use the RSE scheme, are our RSE status, Agreement to Recruit and current worker-support obligations being actively managed?

Employment NZ: fixed-term employment →Employment NZ: casual employment →Immigration NZ: RSE scheme →Back to Agriculture & Horticulture Hub

NZQC provides practical educational information. It is not legal advice and does not certify that a provider is compliant. Check the official source and the requirements that apply to your service, contracts and scope.