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With winter illness at an all-time high, a lot of employees are having to take time off work to rest and recover.  We have been fielding lots of questions around sick leave, covid subsidies and getting it right when paying staff.  Using the right calculation for payment of sick leave is crucial to ensure the employees get paid correctly and it’s a logistical jigsaw when managing those in conjunction with…  Read more

A new targeted COVID Support Payment will be made available for businesses struggling with revenue during the Omicron outbreak. From the Inland Revenue statement issued 24 February 2022 The Covid Support Payment is to help support viable and ongoing businesses or organisations which have experienced a 40% or more drop in revenue as a result of 1 or more of the following COVID-19 circumstances: the widespread presence of COVID-19 in…  Read more

Under the Small Business Cash Flow Loan Scheme the Government provides loans to small businesses, including sole traders and the self-employed, impacted by COVID-19 to support their cash flow needs. If you’ve previously applied for a SBCS and have fully repaid it, you can apply again. Applications are open until 31 December 2023. You can apply through myIR. The small business cash flow loan scheme will provide assistance of up…  Read more

The COVID-19 Leave Support Scheme is available to employers, including self-employed people, to help pay their employees who have been advised to self-isolate because of COVID-19 and can’t work at home during that period. Workers may also be eligible if they need to support a dependent (eg children or a family member with a disability) who has to stay home because they’re waiting on a COVID-19 test result. The COVID-19…  Read more

The COVID-19 Short-Term Absence Payment is available for businesses, including self-employed people, to help pay their employees who cannot work from home while they wait for a COVID-19 test result. Workers may also be eligible if they need to support a dependent (eg children or a family member with a disability) who has to stay home because they’re waiting on a COVID-19 test result. There’s a one-off payment of $359…  Read more

There is a new requirement for paid notice period when employment is terminated because of vaccination status The Government has passed legislation to provide a minimum four-week paid notice period when people have their employment agreements terminated because they are not vaccinated, and their work requires vaccination. This change will only apply to employees who do not have a notice period, or whose notice periods are shorter than four weeks.…  Read more

The government has made a vaccination assessment tool available through the regulations under the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020. This tool will provide a clear, legal framework to help businesses make decisions about vaccinations in the workplace. It will be optional for businesses to use the tool. The tool will not override any risk assessments that have already been done. The tool is likely to include the following four…  Read more

You started your business with plans of earning a living and being successful, but an unfortunate fact of business life is that companies suffer financial hardships.  Whether those hardships are pandemic-related or linked to other urgent situations, the effect is still the same. Your finances are negatively affected and it’s up to you to lead the recovery. Here are 5 steps you can take to help your business recover after…  Read more

The Government has announced new legislation outlining workplace vaccination requirements, taking the next step in their endeavours to vaccinate the population.  The new legislation is to guide decisions on what work needs vaccination. To align with the recently announced COVID-19 Protection Framework, the Government will mandate vaccinations for workers at businesses where customers need to show COVID-19 Vaccination Certificates, such as hospitality and close-contact businesses. The Government is continuing to work…  Read more

Going into immediate Lockdown can be hugely unsettling, but I must say, nowhere near as hard as the March 2020 was.  We have been here before, and I think that brings with it a sense of calmness, open mindedness and understanding of what is expected and what it is going to look like. What is hugely frustrating is assimilating the massive amount of information out there and sorting out the…  Read more

With the constant changes in Covid-19 levels and the uncertainty this brings to business,  here is a summary of what support business owners can access to help you through the hard times. COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Payments Started This Week Applications for the wage subsidy opened last week and payments started to flow on Monday. This scheme allows employers to continue paying staff and protect jobs that may have been affected…  Read more

Fixed Assets On 17th March 2020, the government announced that for one year, any assets purchased for a business under $5,000 (exc GST) can be expensed in the year it is purchased.  This means the full cost of that asset can be claimed as a deductible expense in that period. As this was only a short term adjustment, this is due to finish on 16th March 2021 (yes next week)…  Read more

If you’re a business or organisation that experienced a revenue drop of at least 30% due to the recent rise in COVID-19 alert levels, you may be eligible for a Resurgence Support Payment. It’s not a loan and doesn’t need to be paid back. The Resurgence Support Payment (RSP) is for viable and ongoing businesses or organisations with reduced revenue due to a COVID alert level increase to level 2…  Read more

Read on for the latest updates and some ideas to help us all move forward. Short-Term Absence Payment Launched Starting 9 February 2021, the Short-Term Absence Payment has become available for businesses and self-employed individuals to help them pay their employees who can’t work from home while they wait for their COVID-19 test result. This involves a one-off payment of $350 for each eligible worker. More details on how to…  Read more

The new short-term absence payment is welcome buy small business owners and will take some strain off business owners doing it tough when staff are on leave awaiting results of Covid-19 test and cannot work from home. Employers can apply for support to pay their employees. The self-employed or contractors can apply directly.  The payment will be a one-off amount of $350 for each eligible employee. The Short-Term Absence Payment is…  Read more

Welcome to our first 2021 Covid-19 Update.    Read on for some ideas to help us all move forward. NZ Borders Likely To Remain Closed to Most of the World All Year Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that the country’s borders are likely to remain closed to most of the world for the rest of the year, as reopening them poses “too great a risk to our health and economy”.…  Read more

More small and medium-sized businesses may be eligible for the Business Finance Guarantee scheme, with a simplified and expanded scheme now in place. Participating banks can provide new loans, increased limits to existing loans or a revolving credit facility to eligible businesses. The scheme supports banks to take on lending by government taking on the default risk of up to 80% of the loan. Changes to the scheme mean the…  Read more

In a pandemic world, setting up a strategy will guide your recovery and allow you to thrive.

While we are all planning our next steps as we rebuild our businesses, the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) have begun the mammoth task of auditing certain applications made under the wage subsidy scheme. This is an action that was signalled from very early on in the scheme. While the swift move into audit phase may seem harsh, the statistics that emerged regarding fraudulent claims on hardship grants after the…  Read more

The pains caused by any type of economic downturn can be excruciating, which is why most of us quiver at the thought of it. Just the word recession leaves us with so much uncertainly – it could mean massive layoffs, jobs becoming harder to find, and wages frozen. We start talking about a potential recession, the fear kicks in, and this all contributes to everyone hunkering down and spending less,…  Read more