Covid 19 coronavirus: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern defends sick pay scheme

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has defended the payments made to those forced to self-isolate that are below the minimum wage, saying that “they were never supposed to have a full right.”

Ardern, speaking after it was revealed that two of the most recent community cases had gone to work when they should have isolated themselves, called on employers to step up and support their workers in staying home when if necessary, a call endorsed by the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions and Businesses.

Two of the recent Covid-19 cases in the community started to work at Kmart and KFC, respectively, when they should have been self-isolating, meaning hundreds of customers have been told to self-isolate at home for 14 days.

In light of the most recent cases and the large number of people who need to isolate themselves, Ardern asked employers to contact their workforce.

“Check with your staff to see if there are close or casual contacts of these cases or who have visited sites of interest.

“Make sure they have to isolate themselves, that they don’t come to work and get tested.

“Please make sure you access the payments and that you can continue to support the workers financially.

“Beating Covid is a team effort and despite our best efforts, cases have worked when they shouldn’t have.”

Ardern said financial support was available for employers to pay their employees, in addition to normal sick leave entitlements, so they could stay home when needed.

These included the $ 350 Short-Term Leave Pay that could be paid to employees awaiting test results and who must isolate themselves.

Details of the wage subsidy, which had consisted of $ 585.80 a week for each full-time employee and $ 350 for part-time employees, will be available later this week.

Meanwhile, payments of the same amount were also available under the Leave Support Program for self-isolating employees who were unable to work from home.

The current entitlement of $ 585.80 a week, before taxes, was nearly $ 200 below the minimum wage ($ 753), which was one of the options given in a Cabinet document on the plan in March of last year. .

The payment is also roughly the median rental price in Auckland, which means that if an infected worker were the only one to earn on a household, they would leave little or no money behind after housing costs.

Despite this, Ardern said there were no intentions to increase the pay levels.

“We have a system where when a worker is sick the obligation is on the employer, but we don’t want any reason for anyone to stay home [when required].

“So we’ve taken the unusual step of essentially paying sick pay – it was never intended to be a full entitlement.”

While it had noted comments from the Council of Trade Unions on concerns about employee access to pay, it said there had been no “sustained comments” from employers.

The latest data from the Ministry of Social Development, until February 19, showed that it had approved 1206 requests for Short-Term Absence Pay at $ 483,700.

It had also approved 2,826 applications for the Vacation Support Plan, worth $ 19.2 million.

CTU and Business New Zealand today called on all workplaces to play their role in ensuring New Zealand weathered the latest Covid-19 outbreak and helped minimize the risk of future outbreaks.

“We need to work together to make isolation not only the right thing to do, but also the easy thing to do,” said CTU President Richard Wagstaff.

“Workplaces must communicate this message so that everyone knows what is expected of them. There should be no disadvantage or penalty of any kind for protecting others from Covid-19.”

Salary support systems implemented:

• Short-Term Leave Pay – $ 350 per eligible worker – is available to businesses, including the self-employed, to help pay their workers who cannot work from home while they wait for the Covid test result. -19.

• If someone is ill with Covid-19, cares for someone with Covid-19, or has been required to self-isolate due to Covid-19, the Leave Support Plan is available to employers, including those freelancers, help you pay for your employees who need to isolate themselves and cannot work from home. The plan is paid as a lump sum and covers two weeks per eligible employee, up to $ 1176.60 for people who worked 20 hours or more per week.

• Resurgence support payment is to help support viable and ongoing businesses or organizations due to a Covid-19 alert level increased to level 2 or higher. Eligible businesses and organizations can apply for the lesser of $ 1,500 plus $ 400 per full-time equivalent employee (FTE), up to a maximum of 50 FTEs, or four times the actual revenue drop experienced by the business.

• This week there will be information available on a Salary Subsidy for employers and self-employed workers affected by Covid-19.

• There is also a range of supports for companies during Inland Revenue’s Covid-19, and supports for companies and families from the Ministry of Social Development.