Isolating in times of COVID

Written By Sarah Byron-Wood

Isolating in times of COVID

I had hoped not to start the Newsletter with talk of COVID – but it is hard not to address the challenges and the confusion around self-isolation and the risk of The Big Sick.

The details of what is required for a close contact, a household contact, and a positive case are set out on the COVID-19 website and in summary are:

If you are positive for COVID-19

You will need to isolate for at least 14 days while you recover from COVID-19 and be symptom-free for 72 hours.

If you are a Close Contact

You need to self-isolate from others for 10 days from your last contact with the person who was positive for COVID-19.

Therefore, anyone who lives with a Covid-19 case but does not have the disease themselves must remain in isolation for at least 10 days after the case is released from isolation.

That tallies up to a total 24 days, assuming the household contacts do not themselves catch the virus or that nobody else in their home catches it. The domino effect may see the repeated restarting of the 10 day period.

For those businesses able to work from home where isolation rules exist – they can continue to operate. However, for businesses such as manufacturers, retailers, and those in hospitality, the risk of shutdowns is only too real.

We have set out the provisions under the Leave Support Scheme below, however the length of time that covers does not marry with the isolation period.

It is confusing and difficult, and we have several weeks, possibly months, ahead of us to deal with these challenges.

Steps you can take in the workplace to mitigate the risk

  • Consult with staff about how you plan to deal with cases in the workplace, isolation measures, how you will communicate with your team

  • Ensure you have all team members contact details

  • Check that your systems for managing workflow are adequate for working from home

  • Confirm Teams / Zoom capability

  • Use of medical grade masks, social distancing, good hygiene

  • People to stay home if unwell

  • Time made available to get vaccinations / boosters

  • Use of RAT tests

  • Employees to take laptops home each night to ensure they can work from home

  • Split shifts, division of workforces - this requires sound reason, consultation with employees, a time period and date of review

  • Be aware that people who test positive for Covid can feel the weight of stigma

Financial Support Available

The wage subsidy is no longer available, however, to assist employers to pay wages for employees who are absent for COVID-19 related reasons (including required isolation periods), there are two support payments available.

The Short Term Absence Payment (STAP)

The Short-Term Absence Payment is available to help pay employees who:

  • cannot work from home; and

  • need to stay home while waiting for a COVID-19 test result (in line with public health guidance).

The STAP is a one-off payment of $359 for each eligible worker.

Employers can only apply for it once, for each eligible employee, in any 30-day period (unless a health official or doctor tells the employee to get another test).

If you need help with this, please let us know.

Leave Support Scheme (LSS)

The LSS is available to help employers pay employees who:

  • cannot work from home, and;

  • must isolate at home for at least 4 consecutive days (in line with public health guidelines) because they have been identified as a close contact (or another affected group) and may have been exposed to COVID-19.

The COVID-19 Leave Support Scheme is paid at the rate of:

  • $600.00 a week for full-time workers who were working 20 hours or more a week.

  • $359 a week for part-time workers who were working less than 20 hours a week.

To be eligible for a one-week payment of Leave Support Scheme an employee will have been advised to self-isolate for at least four consecutive calendar days.

If the employee needs to keep self-isolating for at least 11 calendar days or more and can’t work from home, an employer can apply for a second week payment of the Leave Support Scheme.

Employers can apply for third and subsequent Leave support payments for every further seven days of self-isolation.

Where people are unable to work during isolation

There is a question over whether employers must pay employees where isolation requirements fall outside of the government assistance provided or pay top-ups where the government assistance sum does not match the employee’s usual pay.

Our view is where an employer directs an employee not to work the employee must be paid. However, where the Ministry of Health effectively directs the employee not to come to work that is an untested area and we will advise on a case by case basis.

Knowhow’s pandemic clause in agreements prepared by us will come into its own under this scenario.

Risk Assessment Tool for Businesses Requiring Vaccinated Workers

A simplified risk assessment tool for workplaces has been released by WorkSafe and in conjunction with Business New Zealand.

We have developed tools to assist you with the risk assessment of roles to determine whether vaccination is required – let us know if you need our assistance with this, please email us at knowhowh@knowhow.co.nz.

Sarah Byron-Wood
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