ZKSUJ,
Straight from the Air New Zealand careers website:
Candidates who do not hold UE but who have attained all 7 NZCAA ATPL exam credits will also be considered to have met the 'equivalence' standard, providing they have achieved the minimum numeracy and literacy standards required for UE. The ATPL equivalence is subject to the pass/fail conditions described in Chart 2 below.
So unless the guys you know haven't got their ATPLs then I think they will be fine.