Unions and healthcare providers are worried employers aren't using government support to help them cover their costs when a staff member needs to self-isolate after a Covid-19 test and can't work from home.
A Covid-19 test (file image). Photo: 123rf
The short-term absence payment has been available to businesses since 9 February, offering a one-off $350 payment for each eligible worker.
Since then 6200 applications have been approved with about $3 million paid out, Ministry of Social Development figures show.
Over that same period, approximately 230,000 Covid-19 tests have been carried out in the community.
A thousand applications have been declined and businesses who are already claiming the wage subsidy or leave support payment for an employee are not eligible for the short-term absence payment.
South Seas Healthcare has been at the frontline of the response to Covid-19 in South Auckland: Swabbing thousands of people and providing food and other support to those who need to self-isolate.
Southern Seas Wellbeing Hub team lead Ana Rogers said some of the people they worked with could be reluctant to ask their bosses for time off work if they had a test.
"For them, it's quite daunting to even ask their employer for sick leave if they don't have sick leave and it's just that lack of understanding and awareness that they can bring it up with an employer, to ask whether there is support for them to tap into," she said.
First Union retail, finance and commerce division secretary Tali Williams said she was concerned some employers weren't taking advantage of the short-term absence payment - and employees don't know about it.
"And they'll say to them, in this circumstance, you need to use your sick leave or you need to take unpaid leave in order to self-isolate and if an employee doesn't know otherwise, they're not going to challenge that," Williams said.
The government needs to do more to ensure employers apply for it, or otherwise pay their employees, "rather than finding ourselves in this very risky situation where people are asked to take unpaid leave to self-isolate, where that sort of incentive comes in to continue to come to work", she said.
Rogers said for families living pay cheque to pay cheque, the short-term absence payment was critical.
"If they weren't aware of the support, they will either just stay home with no pay, and then reach out to [the Ministry of Social Development], reach out to food banks, or not even reach out for any support."
Employment relations advisory service Employsure team leader Gabby Adds said businesses could use the short-term absence payment to cover a staff member's sick leave.
"Which obviously does have some financial benefit for some businesses, so for your small businesses, you can imagine every single dollar counts, any access to financial support in this current climate is generally received well," she said.
It also encourages employees - including those who have run out of sick leave - to do the right thing and stay home.
"So not only will this help companies financially - which is why I'd say take advantage of it, it's there - but it also does encourage employees to stay home if they do meet the criteria and the whole purpose of that is to mitigate the risk of further transmission," Adds said.
Minister of Social Development Carmel Sepuloni was confident businesses knew the payment is available.
Carmel Sepuloni. Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas
"There were a few pieces of criteria in place, including the fact that you couldn't access the [short-term absence payment] if you were getting the leave support payment or if you were getting access to the wage subsidy, or if you were able to work from home," Sepuloni said.
"Keeping those things in mind, and knowing that the ministry has been proactive in getting the information out there about the payment, then I feel confident that we're communicating it widely."
But Sepuloni said the government was keeping a close watch on uptake and whether people were still going to work after a test.