COVID-19

Applications are now open for the Wage Subsidy August 2021. The Wage Subsidy August 2021 declaration was released this morning (20 August 2021) by Work and Income New Zealand.  Whilst there are not many changes when compared to previous declarations, we set out our initial observations below.  Our advice to employers is to not hastily […]

We are back here again!  It was announced last night that New Zealand would be going into a Level 4 Lockdown at 11:59pm on 17 August 2021. With the Level 4 Lockdown in place, we thought it would be a good opportunity to send out a reminder of some of the support schemes and payments

Applications are now open for the two-week Wage Subsidy March 2021 (“the Wage Subsidy”). The Wage Subsidy is to assist employers in making wage payments to their staff and to protect jobs in businesses affected by the rise in COVID-19 alert levels.  Is my business eligible for the Wage Subsidy? To be eligible, your business

On 23 February 2021, the Government introduced a Resurgence Support Payment (“RSP”), which is available through the Department of Inland Revenue (“IRD”), for businesses who are affected by an increase in the COVID-19 alert levels.   With the recent increases in alert levels (both at 11:59pm on 14 February 2021 and 6.00am on Sunday, 28

The Ministry of Social Development (“MSD”) has recently announced that a Short-Term Absence Payment (“STAP Payment”) is now available for businesses (including self-employed people) to assist with paying workers who are required to stay at home while awaiting COVID-19 test results, and cannot work from home during this time.  What are the criteria to be

The Employment Court has released its first judgment in response to an employer’s actions during the Government enforced lockdown during COVID-19. The full bench of the Employment Court has considered whether the Employment Relations Authority correctly determined that the defendant employees were entitled to minimum wage under the Minimum Wage Act 1983 (“MWA”) during the

As of 21 August 2020, applications are now open for the two-week Resurgence Wage Subsidy.  Following the recent return to Alert Levels 2 and 3, this payment is to assist employers in making wage payments to their staff, and is in essence a further extension of the Wage Subsidy Scheme.  Eligible businesses will be entitled to

The latest COVID-19 restrictions have been issued pursuant to the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Alert Levels 3 and 2) Order 2020 (“the Order”).  The Order can be found here.  The Order appears to provide most businesses and services with more discretion to continue operating than was available during the initial level 3 and 4 restrictions earlier this

With the Government’s decision on 14 August 2020 to keep Auckland at Alert Level 3, and the rest of the country at Alert Level 2, for at least 12 days, many employers will be wondering how to pay staff during this period, and how to prepare for any further escalation of COVID-19 restrictions. Recent Determinations

As of 9.00am today, applications are open for the eight-week Wage Subsidy Extension Scheme. Q. Is my business eligible for the Wage Subsidy Extension?Your business must have: You cannot apply for the Wage Subsidy Extension until any other COVID-related support that your business has been receiving (e.g. the 12-week wage subsidy or the Leave Support scheme)