Repaying COVID-19 August 2021 wage subsidies

If you have money left over, for example an employee no longer works for you, you can use their remaining subsidy to pay other affected employees.

If there are no other employees to use the subsidy for, then the remaining COVID-19 Wage Subsidy August 2021 must be paid back.

If a business makes an employee redundant during the period they are in receipt of a wage subsidy for that person, and the person will remain employed until the end of that period, the business can use the subsidy to pay the person until the end of that period.

However, if the person does not remain employed until the end of the period the business is in receipt of the wage subsidy for that person, the business can use the subsidy to pay the person until they are not employed but must repay the remaining subsidy back to the Ministry of Social Development.

The COVID-19 Wage Subsidy August 2021 cannot be used to pay for notice periods extending beyond the period for which the subsidy is paid nor can it be used to pay any other redundancy payments under the employee’s employment contract (including any leave payments).

When you applied for COVID-19 Wage Subsidy August 2021 #8, you declared that:

• your business is being or will be affected by the continuation of Alert Levels 3 or 4 from 17 August 2021, and
• your business has had, or you predicted will have, a decline in revenue that can be attributed to the effect the continuation of Alert Levels 3 or 4 from 17 August has had on your business, and that is:

• at least a 40% decline over the period between 23 November 2021 and 6 December 2021 inclusive (this is the revenue test period), compared to a typical 14-day consecutive period of revenue in the six weeks immediately before the move to Alert Level 4 on 17 August 2021 (this is the default comparator period), or
• if your business has highly seasonal revenue, you must have at least 40% decline over the revenue test period compared to the same 14 consecutive days in 2020 or 2019 (this is the seasonal comparator period), provided you can demonstrate that the seasonal nature of your business makes it harder to meet the 40% revenue decline using the default comparator period than if your business was not of a seasonal nature, and
• the calculations and comparisons above cannot include any payments made to you from:
  • this subsidy
  • other COVID-19 Wage Subsidy schemes
  • the Short-Term Absence Payment
  • the Leave Support Scheme
  • the COVID-19 Essential Workers Leave Support scheme
  • the COVID-19 Resurgence Support Payment
  • the COVID-19 Small Business Cashflow scheme.

Business doesn't meet the revenue decline test

If you haven’t met the revenue decline test, you must repay the subsidy.

If one of your employees voluntarily leaves during the two weeks of a COVID-19 Wage Subsidy August 2021, you need to tell us. You can't claim another subsidy for that person.

If your employee resigns, any remaining subsidy can be used for the wages of other affected employees. A COVID-19 Wage Subsidy August 2021 is designed to keep your employees connected to you.

If there are no other employees to use the subsidy for, then the subsidy must be paid back.