Q: I run a small business. Two of my employees approached me recently and told me that their work permits have expired.  Will I be liable under law if I allow them to continue working for me?

A: It is an offence under the Immigration Act to allow or continue to allow any person to undertake employment knowing that the person is not entitled to undertake employment under the Immigration Act.

As an employer you could be subject to a penalty not exceeding $50,000 if you breach this restriction.It is also an offence for an employer without reasonable excuse to allow a person who is not entitled to work in New Zealand to undertake employment with them. The penalty is a fine not exceeding $10,000.

A reasonable excuse is if the employer did not know that the person was not entitled to work in New Zealand and the employer had obtained a signed tax code declaration from the employee (before they started employment) that states that they are entitled to work in New Zealand.

Employers also have obligations under the Employment Relations Act 2000.

Once an employer is aware that an employee is no longer entitled to work in New Zealand the employer can, after a fair investigation, give the employee notice that their employment will end because of their ineligibility under the Immigration Act.

An alternative for you may be to suspend the employees by mutual agreement until their immigration status is sorted out and they are again eligible to work legally in New Zealand.

- NZ Herald