Govt. Wage subsidy

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (1) Likes(1)   Quote JK Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Mar 2020 at 7:41pm
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Originally posted by wayno wayno wrote:

My understanding is that the lump sum covers 12 weeks. If the lockdown ends after say, 6 weeks would those who claimed and were paid out be liable to return the "unused" portion?

From my sums the $585/week equates to 83% of my normal wages (24hrs/week) so will cost employer $0, but for the 40hr/week staff the company will have to stump up around $400/week to maintain the required 80%.
Time will tell how many businesses will survive, even with assistance from their banks.

My job comes under the "essential" category, not sure what will/should happen regarding being paid for attending a call-out given the government is effectively paying me to stay home, and any call-out would be earning income for the company.
Many questions in these unchartered times....
Not quite - the subsidy isn't in relation to the lockdown, its straight out for the impact of COVID19 and its for the employer (to pass on to you) as they have claimed it due to being suffering from at least 30% decreased income (for whatever COVID19 related reason it may be) which would inhibit them from paying your normal wages.   Whether you are actually working or not is actually irrelevant. 
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote terrafish Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Mar 2020 at 8:10pm
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All I can say is thank god they have given this subsidy. As a result of the drought here in the north, I have been unable to do over half my summer work and personnel funds were just about non existent. Being a sole trader in a time like this has its downfalls and bonuses.
I had one client that I had been doing a bit of work for, and when I asked for payment she come up with a heap of **** excuse about paperwork not being in order despite having paid previous payments no problems at all. Last time I ever do work for a damn lawyer and good luck to them on the rest of their project figuring out where I got to!!.
On the plus side with the subsidy that both the wife and myself managed to get, we should get thru this period and start again.
Thank god she's a hairdresser. I almost feel sorry for her, for when the country starts back up, because that phone aint gunna stop ringing for weeks.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote jackel Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Mar 2020 at 11:15pm
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Hi guys, is the employer under any obligation to pay 80% of your normal wage (inclusive of the govt subsidy). I cant imagine surviving on the $585 or so less tax.....
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote pjc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Mar 2020 at 6:01am
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Our company are paying us 50hrs per as per our contract,normal pay for 4 weeks as they didnt(not their fault)give us 2 weeks notice so cannot be forced to use holiday/sick pay.
If it continues after 4 weeks we then use sick pay followed by holiday pay for a further 4 weeks,those who have  no sick/holidays go on to the govt subsidy rate.
God forbid it were to continue after 8 weeks then they might look at making everyone redundant then thats a risk as to when we return to normal how many would return.
Incidentally received an email this morning.Quantas has extended it credit policy from must book by december 2020 to december 2021.

Hmm what they triyng to say??
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (1) Likes(1)   Quote JK Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Mar 2020 at 8:25am
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Originally posted by jackel jackel wrote:

Hi guys, is the employer under any obligation to pay 80% of your normal wage (inclusive of the govt subsidy). I cant imagine surviving on the $585 or so less tax.....
When the employer applied for the wage subsidy they ticked a box to declare that they would make 'best endeavors' to pay you at least 80% of your normal wage, so yes they should be paying you 80% of normal wage if at all possible.

Common approaches I have seen so far are:

 - Up until lockdown (ie still working) paid at 80 to 100% of normal wage but part of this is funded by the $585 received by the employer
 - Post lockdown (ie not working) the same (assuming employer has good cash flows)
 - Post lockdown (ie not working)- just the $585/week and this approach to me is against the spirit of the wage scheme but your employer may not have the cash flow available to do this if business has totally dried up.

There is also the ability for annual leave (as agreed between you and employer - cant be forced without 2 weeks notice) to be paid out to top up the $585 subsidy to get closer to your normal wage however if your employer has cash flow issues this probably isn't going to help them too much as they still need to pay out the $.

It's tricky times for all involved
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (4) Likes(4)   Quote kinger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Mar 2020 at 9:14am
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My boss offered me the opportunity to get one paid holiday day per week.
I declined with the option to take up the opportunity if needed.
We aren't buying petrol, not going out socialising, I believe we have enough coming in to get through the currently predicted lock down.
He needs money to look after his family too.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote jackel Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Mar 2020 at 7:56pm
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To employers on the forum, would you keep the same payment of 80% for all employees, or can employers pick and choose whom of their staff the pay 80% and who they pay just the $585 subsidy? 
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote JK Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Mar 2020 at 8:29pm
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Originally posted by jackel jackel wrote:

To employers on the forum, would you keep the same payment of 80% for all employees, or can employers pick and choose whom of their staff the pay 80% and who they pay just the $585 subsidy?
The employer needs to pay the $585 (or $350 of part one) as a minimum. If this is below the 80% they will need to top it up.

Some puzzling guidance has come out of WINZ today which states that if the employees normal wage is below the subsidy amount you still pay them the full subsidy. We expected you would pay them normal wage and then probably have to repay the govt the excess. This means you can have situations where a part time employee normally does 4 hours work in a week and will get $350, where as another who usually does 15 hours will get the same. It’s absurd. Great for some employees I guess and a business is no worse or better off but not great use of government spending. Will be a few things like this due to the speed that this all needed to be rushed through.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote jackel Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Mar 2020 at 9:00pm
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Jk what I was meaning was, does the employer need to offer the same deal to all employees? (everyone full time, everyone earning well over $585 for a full week). All at work are well over the $585income per week (full time) so if my employer 'tops up' others wages to meet the 80% does that need to be done for ALL employees.  
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Grunta Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Mar 2020 at 9:01pm
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Hey Jade - thanks for your advice on this - tricky times and lots of unknowns. FYI everyone JK is at one of NZ's leading finance and management consulting firms. As such he's not only a talented LBG fisho, and it can't be taken as more than his personal thoughts on here, he's very conversant with these issues so thanks heaps for your input JK!
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Originally posted by jackel jackel wrote:

Jk what I was meaning was, does the employer need to offer the same deal to all employees? (everyone full time, everyone earning well over $585 for a full week). All at work are well over the $585income per week (full time) so if my employer 'tops up' others wages to meet the 80% does that need to be done for ALL employees.  

The wording on the official document issued by Work and Income is: " you (employer) must make best efforts to retain employees and pay them a minimum of 80% of their normal income for the subsided period"

A mate called in for a beer on Thursday before lockdown and told me his employer met with all staff to let them know they would be paid the subsidy only. Pretty sure W & I will be fielding many calls about this type of thing

To be old and wise you must first be young and stupid.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote JK Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Mar 2020 at 10:16pm
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Yes where an employer has claimed the subsidy on behalf of their employees, every employee should be paid at the 80% of their wage (as a minimum), unless it’s below the $585, in which case they should get the $585 or $350 if part time
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote JK Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Mar 2020 at 10:21pm
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Originally posted by Grunta Grunta wrote:

Hey Jade - thanks for your advice on this - tricky times and lots of unknowns. FYI everyone JK is at one of NZ's leading finance and management consulting firms. As such he's not only a talented LBG fisho, and it can't be taken as more than his personal thoughts on here, he's very conversant with these issues so thanks heaps for your input JK!


Thanks Grant - yes any advice is strictly in my personal capacity. I don’t work with this stuff but can interpret it and have been working through it for one of our family businesses and to help a few others in need during these uncertain times. I’m sure more guidance will come out soon to provide some clarity
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote SaltyC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Mar 2020 at 10:38pm
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This is a regulatory light system in order to deliver a fast response.

The official wording is about employers making their "best endeavour" to pay 80%.obviously this is open to quite a lot of interpretation and may not need to be applied equally across all employees, however the employer would have to have a well defined set of criteria to distinguish between those it chooses to subsidise and those it doesn't. That may be simply that those it doesn't would be laid off completely without the availability of the subsidy and those it subsidises would be kept on as long as financially possible. The clear intent however is that employers will commit to paying all employees 80%.

Robertson has been clear that the aim of the subsidy is to keep as many employees as possible connected to their employer and that where any subsidy is claimed it must be passed on in full to the employee.
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My son was forced to resign....I an fuming about it.
He could inly see the big payout, holiday pay etc,
Fortunately he has text messages insisting on this.
you can't fix an idiot with duct tape, but it does muffle them for a while...
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Side note for relieving teachers.. this is being sorted as at yesterday afternoon.
Basically ave wage over the last few weeks..
 Till sorted between nova pay and ministry emergency payments here
http://www.education.govt.nz/school/health-safety-and-wellbeing/student-and-staff-health/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov/information-for-staffing-provisions/emergency-income-support

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote JK Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2020 at 5:21pm
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Originally posted by JK JK wrote:

Originally posted by jackel jackel wrote:

To employers on the forum, would you keep the same payment of 80% for all employees, or can employers pick and choose whom of their staff the pay 80% and who they pay just the $585 subsidy?
The employer needs to pay the $585 (or $350 of part one) as a minimum. If this is below the 80% they will need to top it up.

Some puzzling guidance has come out of WINZ today which states that if the employees normal wage is below the subsidy amount you still pay them the full subsidy. We expected you would pay them normal wage and then probably have to repay the govt the excess. This means you can have situations where a part time employee normally does 4 hours work in a week and will get $350, where as another who usually does 15 hours will get the same. It’s absurd. Great for some employees I guess and a business is no worse or better off but not great use of government spending. Will be a few things like this due to the speed that this all needed to be rushed through.


Finally common sense prevails with a bit more guidance out today

In short:

If you are receiving the COVID-19 Wage Subsidy, you must:
Try your hardest to pay staff at least 80% of their usual wages;
If that isn’t possible, pay at least the rate of the subsidy that applies to that employee
If the employee’s usual wages are lower than the rate of the subsidy, continue paying that amount for the duration of the subsidy.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote jackel Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2020 at 9:41pm
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This was also interesting today. 

The money is paid out by the Ministry of Social Development in lump sums, meaning a full-time worker should get a lump sum of $7029.60 for a period of 12 weeks, the length of the scheme set by the Government. 

taken from.....


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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote JK Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2020 at 10:24pm
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Originally posted by jackel jackel wrote:

This was also interesting today. 

<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe WP", Arial, sans-serif;">The money is paid out by the Ministry of Social Development in lump sums, meaning a full-time worker should get a lump sum of $7029.60 for a period of 12 weeks, the length of the scheme set by the Government.</span><span style="font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe WP", Arial, sans-serif;"> </span>
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe WP", Arial, sans-serif;">
</span>
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe WP", Arial, sans-serif;">taken from.....</span>
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe WP", Arial, sans-serif;">
</span>
<span style="color: rgb51, 51, 51; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe WP", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">
</span>



Well that’s a bit of a strange one as the employee would never get that amount even if it was paid as a lump sum as they will receive it next of paye and KiwiSaver etc. Haven’t seen any similar wording on official information sources so would guess it’s just a reporter’s para phrasing or poor interpretation
LedgeNZ LBG
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