PIoWRPacific Institute of Workplace RelationsFair Conditions At Work

Seasonal Workers

Pacific Institute of Workplace Relations (PIoWR) — Fair Conditions At Work

This page is for: PALM (Australia), RSE (New Zealand) and other labour mobility workers.

Thousands of Pacific workers pick, pack and prune in Australia and New Zealand, and their pay keeps families and villages going at home. This page sets out your rights under the PALM and RSE schemes, what to check before you go, and who to call when something is wrong.

On this page: Know your rights · Checklist · Find help near you · Short lessons · Worker voices · Meetings and publications

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How these rules apply

  • PALM — the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme — is run by Australia's Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR). PALM workers have the same workplace rights and protections as Australian workers, plus extra scheme rules for employers.
  • RSE — New Zealand's Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme — covers horticulture and viticulture work. It is run by Immigration New Zealand, with Employment New Zealand and the Labour Inspectorate.
  • What's changing: On 28 July 2026, New Zealand announced changes to the RSE scheme, to be introduced in stages from early 2027. Current RSE rules stay in place until then. PALM settings (such as minimum hours) have also changed several times. Always check the official page linked on each card.
  • Other labour mobility pathways have their own rules. Ask your labour sending unit before you sign. These cards are general information, not legal advice.

Know your rights

Each card can be saved as a PDF to print or share. All rights cards.

Your job offer and contract

Know what you agreed to before you leave home.

What you should get

  • PALM (Australia): you have the same workplace rights and protections as Australian workers.
  • RSE (New Zealand): your employer must give you a written contract that explains your pay, work hours, holiday pay, sick leave and work conditions. It must say your employer will pay at least 50% of your return airfare.
  • PALM and RSE: you apply through your own country's labour sending unit. You do not need to pay or give gifts to anyone to join PALM.

Check for

  • Employer name and the place you will work
  • Hourly rate or piece rate, and how pay is worked out
  • Minimum hours or minimum pay
  • Every cost that will be taken from your pay (flights, visa, accommodation, transport, insurance)
  • Start date and end date

What you can do

  • Ask for the offer in writing and in your language — PALM publishes many guides in Pacific languages.
  • Keep a copy at home with your family.

Sources: PALM scheme — Worker support · PALM scheme — Fiji country page (sending unit, no fees) · Immigration NZ — Your rights as an RSE worker

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Your pay and deductions

Every hour you work must be paid, and every deduction must be explained.

What you should get

  • PALM: your employer may pay some costs up front (such as flights and visas). These are usually paid back over your first 12–16 weeks, spread over several pay periods so you still have enough to live on.
  • PALM: you can check pay rates and entitlements with the Fair Work Ombudsman (13 13 94).
  • RSE: you must be paid at least the NZ minimum wage. From your third season, at least 10% above the minimum wage.
  • RSE: you must be paid for every hour you work, and you must get 8% holiday pay.
  • RSE: deductions need your written approval, and you can ask in writing to change or stop a deduction (your employer must act as soon as possible, within 2 weeks).

Check for

  • Your payslip shows hours, rate, tax and every deduction
  • Deductions match what you agreed in writing

What you can do

  • Photograph every payslip. Write down your hours each day.

Sources: PALM — Payroll deductions explained (guides in 11 Pacific languages) · PALM — Worker support · Immigration NZ — Your rights as an RSE worker · Immigration NZ — Pay and sick leave for RSE workers

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Hours, minimum pay and leave

Seasonal work can be stop-start. The rules protect a minimum income.

What you should get

  • PALM short-term workers: since July 2024, employers have had to offer at least 120 hours over 4 weeks, or pay wages equal to 120 hours. This setting has been extended more than once — check the latest PALM minimum hours poster (published in many Pacific languages) for today's rule.
  • RSE, contracts of 6 weeks or longer: you must be paid the greater of 240 hours, or an average of 30 hours a week over each 4 weeks, at your hourly rate — even if there is not enough work. Contracts under 6 weeks: 40 hours a week.
  • RSE sick leave: 2 days from your first day, then 2 more each month, up to 10 days after 4 months.

Check for

  • Your contract states the minimum hours or minimum pay

What you can do

  • Keep your own record of hours offered and worked, including days sent home because of weather.

Sources: PALM — Minimum hours settings, information for workers (posters) · PALM — Minimum hours FAQ (July 2024) · Immigration NZ — Minimum requirements for RSE employment agreements · Immigration NZ — Your rights as an RSE worker

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Health and safety

Farm and factory work has real risks. You have the right to be safe.

What you should get

  • PALM: if you are unwell, injured or unsafe — in an emergency call 000, get medical help, and contact the PALM support service (1800 51 51 31) or your Country Liaison Officer.
  • PALM: employers must appoint a welfare and wellbeing officer to support workers.
  • RSE: your employer must arrange your medical insurance and tell you what it covers.
  • RSE: if you have an accident you can apply through your doctor to ACC (Accident Compensation Corporation). Tell your employer as soon as you are injured, or ACC might not cover you.

Check for

  • You know who your welfare officer or pastoral care contact is
  • You have been shown the safety rules for your job

What you can do

  • Report injuries the same day and keep a note of who you told.

Sources: PALM — Help for workers · PALM — Worker support · Immigration NZ — Your rights as an RSE worker

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Accommodation and transport

Where you live affects your health and your pay packet.

What you should get

  • PALM: accommodation must be fair and good value, charged at cost (no profit), and the cost must be explained in your offer of employment, including what is included.
  • PALM: you may arrange your own accommodation, and your employer must not pressure you either way.
  • RSE: your employer must provide safe, approved accommodation and free transport to and from work.
  • RSE: from early 2027, announced changes include internet access at worker accommodation (not yet in force).

Check for

  • Weekly rent and what it includes (power, water, cleaning)
  • How many people share a room

What you can do

  • Take photos of the accommodation when you arrive. Raise problems early with your employer, then the support line.

Sources: PALM — Accommodation requirements checklist (PDF) · Immigration NZ — Your rights as an RSE worker · Immigration NZ — Changes announced to the RSE scheme (28 July 2026)

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Travel home

Know who pays for your trip home before you leave.

What you should get

  • RSE: your employer must pay at least half of your return airfare. For citizens of Tuvalu and Kiribati, this is half the return airfare between Nadi (Fiji) and New Zealand.
  • PALM: your employer pays your flights and some other costs up front so you can travel to Australia, and you repay them gradually from your wages. PALM publishes an airfares and domestic transport matrix for employers — ask your employer to show you what applies to you.
  • PALM: if you are thinking of leaving your job, call the PALM support service first (1800 51 51 31). There are options and support available.

Check for

  • Your offer says who pays the return flight and how much will be deducted

What you can do

  • Keep your passport yourself. Keep your return date and flight details written down.

Sources: Immigration NZ — Minimum requirements for RSE employment agreements · PALM — Fiji country page · PALM — Resources for employers (airfares matrix) · PALM — Disengagement: options and support for workers

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Making a complaint

You can raise a problem without losing your dignity — or your job.

What you should get

  • PALM: lodge a grievance using the PALM grievance form, or by calling the support line (1800 51 51 31) or emailing palm@dewr.gov.au.
  • PALM: pay, hours, deductions and leave problems can go to the Fair Work Ombudsman (13 13 94; interpreter 13 14 50).
  • RSE: your employer must listen to your concerns and must let you contact the Labour Inspectorate or groups like Citizens Advice Bureau.
  • RSE: report exploitation to Employment New Zealand on 0800 200 088 (say your language for an interpreter) or online. You can report anonymously.
  • RSE: your employer must let you join or contact a union if you want to.

Check for

  • You know your Country Liaison Officer's name and number

What you can do

  • Write down what happened, when, and who was there. Keep payslips and messages.
  • Read the lesson 'Raising a complaint safely'.

Sources: PALM — Grievance management policy and form · PALM — Help for workers · Immigration NZ — Your rights as an RSE worker · Employment NZ — Migrant exploitation

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Who to call

Save these numbers before you need them.

What you should get

  • Australia — emergency: 000. PALM support service: 1800 51 51 31 (8:30am–6:30pm AEST; any time for serious problems). Fair Work Ombudsman: 13 13 94. Interpreters (TIS National): 131 450. 1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732.
  • New Zealand — emergency: 111 (ask for Police). Employment NZ migrant exploitation line: 0800 200 088. Employment NZ: 0800 20 90 20.
  • Your Country Liaison Officer or labour attaché, and your country's labour sending unit at home — see 'Find help near you'.

Check for

  • Numbers saved in your phone and written on paper

What you can do

  • Give your family the name of your employer, your farm address and your CLO's number.

Sources: PALM — Help for workers · Employment NZ — Migrant exploitation · Employment NZ — Contact us · PIoWR Find help directory

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Checklist

Before you go, when you arrive, before you come home. Print it, tick it, keep it.

Before you apply

  • Apply only through your country's official labour sending unit or a licensed agent.
  • Never pay or give gifts to get a PALM job. Fake job offers are a real risk — check the PALM page on scams and ask your labour sending unit if an offer is real.

Before you sign

  • Get your offer in writing. Check the employer, the work location, the hourly or piece rate, minimum hours or pay, and the start and end dates.
  • List every cost that will be taken from your pay — flights, visa, accommodation, transport, insurance — and how fast it will be repaid.
  • Ask who pays your trip home.

Before you leave home

  • Attend pre-departure training.
  • Brief your family: employer name, farm or factory address, your Country Liaison Officer's contact.
  • Save emergency and help numbers (000 in Australia, 111 in New Zealand).
  • Plan how you will send money home and compare the fees.

When you arrive

  • Go to the arrival briefing. Find out who your welfare and wellbeing officer or pastoral care contact is.
  • Take photos of your accommodation on day one.
  • Start a notebook of hours offered and worked.

Before you come home

  • Check your final pay, holiday pay and deductions.
  • Ask about your superannuation or retirement savings (PALM and RSE both have arrangements).
  • Keep your payslips — you may need them later.

Find help near you

Choose your country to see verified contacts. Every contact links to the page where we checked it.

  • In Australia: emergency 000 · PALM support service 1800 51 51 31 · Fair Work Ombudsman 13 13 94 · interpreters (TIS National) 131 450 · 1800RESPECT 1800 737 732
  • In New Zealand: emergency 111 · Employment NZ migrant exploitation line 0800 200 088 · Employment NZ 0800 20 90 20
  • At home: your country's labour sending unit (verified for Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu).

Open the full Find help directory

Short lessons

About five minutes each, with a short self-check quiz. The answers are shown after you check.

See all lessons · Glossary

Worker voices

Have you worked under PALM, RSE or another labour mobility scheme? Your experience — good or bad — can help the next worker prepare.

Stories from seasonal workers

Stories are summarised from the published sources linked; PIoWR did not collect them.

Read these stories in full on the Worker stories page · Video coming soon

Share your story

PIoWR has not yet published any stories collected by us. When you share yours, these rules apply:

  • Your consent first. Nothing is published without your written consent. You can say no at any time before publishing, and ask us to take your story down later.
  • You choose your name. Stories are anonymous unless you ask to be named. We will not show your face unless you want us to.
  • You check it first. We send you the final text before it goes up.
  • Your safety comes first. We remove details that could identify you or your employer if that could put you at risk.
  • Under 18? We need a parent's or guardian's consent too.
  • No payment, no pressure. Sharing is voluntary and does not affect any help you receive.

Share your experience: Write to PIoWR with the subject line "Worker voices — Seasonal Workers". You can write in English or your own language.

Meetings and publications

Meetings to follow

  • Pacific Labour Ministers Meeting (Pacific Islands Forum) · Endorsed at Koror, Palau, 31 Aug–3 Sep 2026; first sitting date not yet set · Highlight — labour mobility now has its own ministerial seat in the Forum.

See all meetings

From the library

Search the full library · Ask the Library

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Pacific Institute of Workplace Relations — Fair Conditions At Work