Business Support Following Level 4 Lockdown Announcement
Following the rise in alert levels the Government have activated a number of business support measures to provide certainty to businesses and employees.
These measures include the following:
Wage Subsidy Scheme
If your business cannot operate because of Alert Level 4 restrictions or you will lose revenue, you can apply for the COVID-19 Wage Subsidy scheme to help keep paying your staff.
Businesses and self-employed people must expect a 40% drop in revenue to be eligible to receive the wage subsidy.
The wage subsidy is paid in a 2 week lump sum. You can get:
- $600 per week for each full-time employee
- $359 per week for each part-time employee
Businesses anywhere in New Zealand can apply for the Wage Subsidy Scheme if they are eligible. However as an employer you must pass on the full wage subsidy to your employee. If the wage subsidy is more than your employee's pay, you can continue to pay them at their normal rate.
If your business has to physically close but your employees can work from home, and you are not eligible for the Wage Subsidy Scheme, you need to keep paying them their usual salary or wages.
COVID-19 Resurgence Support Payment
UPDATE: From 9 September 2021 if you've been in business for at least 1 month before the alert level increase on 17 August 2021, you can apply for the payment. The original criteria was 6 months.
The COVID-19 Resurgence Support Payment helps to cover wages and fixed costs for businesses who have been directly affected when there is an increase to Alert Level 2 or higher for a week or more.
To be eligible, your business must have experienced at least a 30% drop in revenue or a 30% decline in capital-raising ability over a 7-day period, due to an increase in Alert Levels.
You can receive $1,500 per business plus $400 per full-time employee (FTE), up to 50 FTE. The maximum payment is $21,500.
If you're a sole trader, you can receive a payment of up to $1,900.
You can apply for both the COVID-19 Resurgence Support Payment and the COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme if you meet all the eligible criteria.
Aswell as the above measure the following support remains available:
COVID-19 Short-Term Absence Payment
The COVID-19 Short-Term Absence Payment helps businesses keep paying employees who:
- cannot work from home, and need to stay at home while waiting for a COVID-19 test result.
- Employees on a casual contract are also eligible for the payment.
You can also use the short term absence payment to pay employees who have to stay home and look after a dependent child because their child has been asked to get a COVID-19 test.
You can get a one-off amount of $350 for each eligible worker while they are staying home waiting for test results. The amount is the same for both full time and part time employees.
You can get a one-off amount of $350 for each eligible worker while they are staying home waiting for test results. The amount is the same for both full time and part time employees.
You can apply for the Short-Term Absence Payment any time, not just when there is a risk of community transmission, or change in Alert Levels.
COVID-19 Leave Support Scheme
If your employees have been asked to self-isolate and they cannot work from home, you can apply for the COVID-19 Leave Support Scheme for them. This means they can continue to get paid while they are self-isolating. Employees on a casual contract are also eligible for the payment.
You can also use the payment to help pay for employees who:
- need to stay home and look after a dependent child who needs support to self-isolate.
- are at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, and a doctor or health professional has told them to self-isolate while there is a risk of community transmission.
The Leave Support Scheme is paid at a rate of:
- $585.80 a week for full-time workers who were working 20 hours or more a week
- $350 a week for part-time workers who were working less than 20 hours a week.
Employers and employees need to meet certain criteria to apply for the Leave Support Scheme.
Applications for the August 2021 Wage Subsidy will open on Friday 20 August 2021 at 9am and will be open for 2 weeks.
Click here to email us for more if you would like more information or have any questions
We will keep you informed as the information is released, but in the meantime please don't hesitate to get in touch.
kia atawhai, kia haumaru, kia māia
be kind, be safe, be steadfast