The Cook Islands Ministry of Finance has cancelled the wage subsidies to some employers because they failed to pay their staff in full.
The director of the economic planning division Natalie Cooke told the Cook Islands News that the scheme required employers to back-pay staff for the previous month and provide documentation showing the payment before approving the next month's application.
She said there had been instances where applications were declined due to the wage subsidy not being paid in full.
Businesses affected by the Covid-19 crisis get government wage subsidies of $US200 a week to top an employee's contracted rate.
Reports said some workers collected the minimum wage but did not go to work which was also in breach. In such instances an employer has the right to withhold that wage.
A woman buying groceries in the Cook islands. Photo: 123RF/Rafael Ben-Ari