I hope this newsletter finds you are all well at the current Level-4 Lockdown from last night. May you all keep well and calm at this difficult time. The link below may help to keep your mental health needs. https://www.healthnavigator.org.nz/health-a-z/c/covid-19-mental-health/
In the meantime, the NZ Government has a range of support schemes to help businesses and their employees in times of difficulty created by Covid-19 lockdowns.
Wage Subsidy
The Wage Subsidy is a support scheme designed to help a business afford the wages of its employees through a period of lockdown in order to keep people in employment.
AVAILABLE: Nationwide when anywhere in the nation moves to Alert Level 3 or 4 for a period of 7 days or more.
ELIGIBILITY: 40% drop in revenue over a 7 day period as a direct result of the lockdown.
PAYMENT: $600 per week per full-time staff member. $359 per week per part-time staff member.
USE IT FOR: Helping to pay your staff during the lockdown. Pay your staff as normal or as agreed through payroll, using the subsidy to give your business the cash to pay (like it is an overdraft).
Resurgence Support
The Resurgence Support Payment is designed to help a business afford to keep paying its general overheads (rent, suppliers, etc.) through a period of lockdown in order to keep the business in a position it can reopen easily.
AVAILABLE: Nationwide when anywhere in the nation moves to Alert Level 2 or higher for a period of 7 days or more.
ELIGIBILITY: 30% drop in revenue over a 7 day period as a direct result of the lockdown.
PAYMENT: $1500 as a base rate for the business*. $400 per week per part-time staff member.
(*Maximum payment available of $21,500 per business.)
USE IT FOR: Paying your bills.
Where to apply
To apply for the Wage Subsidy visit the Ministry of Social Development website. Applications for the Wage Subsidy will be open from 9 am on Friday 20 August 2021 for a period of two weeks.
To apply for the Resurgence Support payment, visit the Inland Revenue website. Inland Revenue has advised information will be published on their website on Wednesday 18 August about applications for the alert level increase announced on 17 August.
https://www.ird.govt.nz/covid-19/business-and-organisations/resurgence-support-payment
Further information
The central place for information from New Zealand Government about COVID-19 is the Unite Against covid website: https://covid19.govt.nz/
Please feel free to contact us if you have any queries on the government subsidy application.