COVID-19 Short-Term Absence Payment

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 (or their dependant) wait for a COVID-19 PCR test result.

The Short-Term Absence Payment is to help businesses keep paying eligible employees (or self-employed people) who:

cannot work from home, and
need to miss work to stay home while waiting for a COVID-19 PCR test result.

There’s a one-off payment of $359 for each eligible worker. You can only apply for it once, for each eligible employee, in any 30-day period (unless your employee needs to get another COVID-19 PCR test).

The Ministry of Health has information about when to get a test and what to do while you’re waiting for results, including when your employee might need to get another test:

Assessment and testing for COVID-19 - Ministry of Health NZ

If you or your employee test positive you will be able to apply for the COVID-19 Leave Support Scheme to help pay their wages or salary.

Find out about:

Who can get it

Payment rates and processing times

COVID-19 and health concerns

The Ministry of Health has information about when to get a test and what to do while you’re waiting for results:

Assessment and testing for COVID-19 - Ministry of Health NZ

If you think you may have been exposed to COVID-19, you should call the dedicated COVID-19 Healthline for free on 0800 358 5453 .

For any other health concerns, you can call the general Healthline number on 0800 611 116 or talk to your doctor or health provider. Employers should encourage their employees to do this if they're unwell.