Josh Fitzgerald, owner of The Barrio Brothers, Flying Burrito Brothers, and Rye - American Kitchen and Spirits. Photo / File
Josh Fitzgerald, owner of The Barrio Brothers, Flying Burrito Brothers, and Rye - American Kitchen and Spirits. Photo / File
Business leaders are welcoming the news of an extended wage subsidy scheme but some are saying the support needed to come sooner.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson announced this afternoon that the scheme would be extended an additional two weeks from September 1, saying it would protect about 470,000 jobs nationwide at a cost of $510 million.
Applications for the new subsidy could be lodged by the end of this week, he said.
The criteria was similar to the current extension, but businesses must have had, or were predicting to have, a revenue drop due to Covid-19 of at least 40 per cent.
This applied for any consecutive period of at least 14 days within August 12 and September 14 compared to last year.
It comes after a fresh outbreak of Covid community transmission last week that saw Auckland placed into alert level 3, while the rest of the country was upgraded to alert level 2.
Josh Fitzgerald, owner of The Barrio Brothers, Flying Burrito Brothers, and Rye - American Kitchen and Spirits, said things had been "significantly quieter" as "uncertainty" swept the community so he believed an extension right now was "a good idea".
Tourism Bay of Plenty chief executive Kristin Dunne. Photo / File
He said anything that would retain jobs and help impacted businesses was crucial at this time.
With 20 per cent of the total visitor market for the Coastal Bay of Plenty from Auckland, Tourism Bay of Plenty chief executive Kristin Dunne was "heartened" with the decision to extend the wage subsidy.
"The industry was hurting prior to this second wave," she said.
"With the Auckland market not able to travel, and the rest of the country taking care with their travel it is, once again, a very difficult time for many businesses."
Hospitality New Zealand Bay of Plenty regional manager Alan Sciascia said while the extension would be gratefully received by a number of businesses, the support is needed now.
Hospitality NZ regional manager Alan Sciascia. Photo / File
"It's a pity that the Government won't take applications until the end of this week as support is needed now."
Sciascia said many businesses would not be receiving the current subsidy because, until last week, their revenue had not dropped enough to qualify.
"Suddenly revenue plummeted last week but employees are still required to be paid."
Priority One chief executive Nigel Tutt said while he did not expect the current lockdown will create the need for large scale take-up of the scheme in the Bay, some businesses will be impacted – particularly those that might have been expecting customers from Auckland.
"The wage subsidy has been well received by businesses so far and businesses will take confidence from the Government being willing to extend the scheme."
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Matt Cowley said the new short-term targeted approach was a good option.
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Matt Cowley. Photo / File
"It allows vulnerable businesses to keep their staff employed until things pick up for local businesses as we head into spring and the Christmas shopping season."
The overall scheme would cost $1.6 billion.
The Government also planned to modify the Covid-19 sick leave scheme to make it more accessible. Details would be announced on Monday.
