COVID-19 business assistance

The Wage Subsidy August 2021 payments support employers to continue to pay employees and protect jobs for businesses affected by the continuing effects of COVID-19 alert levels 3 and 4.

Businesses who’ve experienced a drop in revenue due to COVID-19 alert levels 3 and 4. You can’t get a Short-term Absence Payment or a Leave Support Scheme payment for an employee if you’re already getting a Wage Subsidy for them.

The subsidy will be paid at the rate of:

• $600 a week for each full-time employee retained (20 hours a week or more)
• $359 a week for each part-time employee retained (less than 20 hours a week).

This payment has been introduced as part of the government’s COVID-19 support initiatives to help cover business expenses such as wages and fixed costs.

Two payments are now available for the alert level increase announced on 17 August 2021. Applications for payments are open. 

Businesses and organisations can apply for the second payment even if they have received the first payment. Both payments will remain open until 1 month after the whole of Aotearoa New Zealand returns to alert level 1.

To be eligible, your business must have experienced at least a 30% drop in revenue (or 30% decline in capital-raising ability) over a continuous 7-day period at the raised alert level when compared with a typical 7-day revenue period in the previous 6 weeks, ie

• For the first RSP: On or after 17 August 2021 and immediately before all of New Zealand returns to alert level 1
• For the second RSP: On or after 8 September 2021 and immediately before all of New Zealand returns to alert level 1.

You are only entitled to apply for 1 RSP for each of the above-mentioned periods.

You must also meet a range of other eligibility criteria.

The maximum size of the payment your business or organisation may be eligible for is dependent on the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) employees and your level of revenue.

The RSP is calculated as $1,500 plus $400 per FTE (up to 50 FTE). The maximum payment is $21,500. Sole traders can receive a payment of up to $1,900.

Businesses with low revenue will have their payment capped at four times (4x) the amount their revenue has dropped over the 7-day period. For example, if the business has 3 FTE employees, they would be entitled to $2,700. However, if their revenue drop was $500, the RSP payment would be limited to $2,000.

Find out more about the RSP on Inland Revenue’s website.

A government loan over a term of 5 years for small to medium businesses affected by COVID-19.

Businesses set up after 1 April 2020. They need to have been in business for at least 6 months before applying, and to meet other eligibility criteria.

Businesses will be entitled to a loan of $10,000, plus $1,800 per full-time employee, up to a maximum of $100,000.

Helping businesses keep paying eligible workers who:

• cannot work from home, and
• need to miss work to stay home while waiting for a COVID-19 test (in line with public health guidance).

Businesses and self-employed workers. You can’t get this payment if you’re already getting a Wage Subsidy or Leave Support Scheme payment for your employee. There are also other eligibility criteria, which are outlined on the Work and Income website.

A one-off payment of $359 for each eligible worker.

Supporting businesses whose workers have been told to self-isolate and can't work from home.

Employers, including self-employed people, so they can pay employees who have been told to self-isolate because they meet certain health criteria and who can't work from home. You can’t get this payment if you’re already getting a Wage Subsidy or Short-term Absence Payment for this employee. There’s more eligibility criteria on the Work and Income website.

Payments of $600 for people working 20 hours or more a week, or $359 for people working less than 20 hours per week. The payment is made as two-week lump sums. Businesses can reapply for their employees if they continue to meet the criteria.

All invoices due to be sent in 2020 had a three-month grace period which resulted in CoverPlus Extra invoices being issued from July 2020 and all other invoices from October 2020.

Businesses that pay an ACC levy.

• Delayed invoicing
• Payment plans
• To let us know if you’re no longer in business
• How ACC levies work with the government wage subsidy