Eighteen Bay of Plenty kiwifruit contractors are facing enforcement action following a Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment operation which saw Immigration New Zealand identify eight illegal workers.

Labour inspectorate general manager George Mason says MBIE has issued 22 Improvement Notices for 39 minimum employment standard breaches.

Eighteen Bay of Plenty kiwifruit contractors are facing enforcement action following a Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment operation.

The week-long operation in May saw the MBIE's Labour Inspectorate and INZ visit 35 contractors to check their compliance with immigration and employment laws.

'Through a combination of field visits, home and office visits, self-pick orchard and pack-house visits, MBIE found more than half of the contractors were in breach of their legal requirements” says George.

The visits followed an operation last November, which identified a Bay of Plenty contractor was seriously breaching employment laws.

'As a result, MBIE decided to launch a broad audit programme of the sector, with an initial focus on the 2014 harvest. This audit programme will be ongoing.

'Seven labour inspectors and six immigration officers were involved in the first phase of the audit programme, with NZ Police assisting on two occasions.

George says the level of non-compliance identified during this operation was disappointing, 'especially the lack of acceptable time records”.

'Failure to maintain accurate time, wage and leave records is a key focus for the Labour Inspectorate, with breaches subject to compliance action and potentially penalties too.”

During the audit pamphlets were handed out to more than 300 workers to raise awareness of their entitlements in the industry.

The Ministry encourages anyone in this situation, or who knows of anyone in this situation, to call its contact centre on 0800 20 90 20.