Comprehensive evidence on the experiences and pressures facing workers and employers

Worker exploitation – whether through deliberate action or a lack of awareness of rights and obligations – creates harm for individuals, businesses, and the broader labour market.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) needed a clear, evidence-based view of where risk and vulnerability exist, and what drives them. They wanted to understand which audiences are more exposed to exploitation and how best to support employers and workers to access the right information, at the right time, to prevent issues from escalating.

Our task was to build a robust framework that mapped knowledge, vulnerability, and markers of exploitation across the employment landscape, and to identify where targeted intervention would have the greatest impact.

Our approach

We partnered closely with MBIE to design and deliver a mixed-method programme across 2023 and 2025, surveying around 3,000 workers and 1,000 employers each year. We used multiple recruitment routes – including push-to-web, pre-call phone outreach and panel sampling – to ensure coverage across industry sectors and employment types.

We deliberately strengthened representation in sectors and groups where vulnerability is more likely, such as horticulture and viticulture. We also focused on workers who are often under-represented in national research: youth, Māori, Pasifika, and temporary migrant workers. By also surveying employers (including employers of temporary migrants), we were able to build a genuinely 360-degree view of employment relationships and risks.

Project outcomes

The Employment Monitor delivers key insights that are being used to:

• guide where MBIE focuses its education and engagement efforts,
• tailor communications so that workers and employers receive the right information for their context, and
• track change over time, including improvements in awareness of rights and responsibilities.

In short, the programme has equipped MBIE with the clarity needed to make targeted, measurable interventions – supporting fair treatment, informed decision-making, and a healthier employment system for Aotearoa.

Our published reports can be found here.