Morena, as we move into the Covid Protection Framework (traffic lights) on Friday morning, things will start to open up in Auckland, which has been long awaited. This, along with the removal of the Auckland border on 15 December, will see a wider spread of people across the country which will potentially lead to increased Covid-19 cases. In light of this businesses need to be prepared for the eventuality of a Covid positive case in the workplace and how this might impact them.
The My Vaccine Pass (MVP) will come into play on Friday and whether they need it for business or personal use, check that your staff have access to create one if they need it as they may not all have the personal capacity or resources to do so.
Applications for the final Resurgence Payment and wage subsidies close shortly so don't miss out on your opportunity to claim them. There is a one-off transition payment being made available for businesses in Auckland, Waikato and Northland to acknowledge the restrictions they have faced under the higher alert levels. Details below on these.
On a lighter note, if you are creating some fun festive products for your customers in the lead-up to Christmas, send pics to tania.mcdougall@printnz.co.nz so we can load them on our Printed In New Zealand Instagram page and show everyone the cool stuff our industry is producing.
COVID-19 PROTECTION FRAMEWORK (the framework) - MANUFACTURING
The settings for each region have now been named, with all of the South Island going into Orange, and the North Island moving into a mix of red and orange.
In Red and Orange the settings for Manufacturing, Supply or Processing of Goods and Packaging are the same:
Workplaces can open
Face coverings are encouraged
Retail aspects of the business may open with capacity limits based on 1 metre distancing (not including workers)
In retail aspects, face coverings are mandatory (unless a person is exempt).
COVID-19 CASE RESPONSE MANAGEMENT PLAN
One of the questions I get asked quite frequently at the moment is "what happens if we get a positive case of Covid-19 in our plant?" There is no definitive answer as every business and how it operates is unique, but there are some guidelines and definitions available from Ministry of Health that I have used to create this Case Management Response Plan.
The Regional Public Health Service of course have the final say, but this should give you some idea of what to expect, who needs to isolate for how long, when to get tested and what immediate actions you can take to minimise the length of time the business is affected. VACCINE PASS/VACCINE VERIFIER APP
The My Vaccine Pass (MVP) will come into use Friday 3 December. If you have set that as a policy requirement for your business, make sure you have the processes in place to enable your policy to be followed.
In particular if you have front line staff required to deal with this, make sure they have been trained in both the process to follow and how to deal with those that don't have/can't show their MVP. You will need to decide whether sighting the vaccine pass on a phone/hard copy will be sufficient, or whether you will want to use the verifier app to confirm.
Final Resurgence Payment
Applications for the sixth Resurgence Support payment are now open. To be eligible for the payment a business or organisation will need to experience a 30% decline in revenue due to the increased alert levels, in a consecutive 7 day period in the period starting 19 November.
Applications for the first three Resurgence Support Payments close on 1 December. Applications remain open for payments four to six, but the affected revenue period will end on 2 December.
Final Wage Subsidy
Wage subsidy #8 is also open for applications until 9 December. To be eligible your business must have had, or you predict will have, at least a 40% decline in revenue between 23 November and 6 December that can be attributed to the continuation of Alert Level 3 compared to a typical 14 consecutive days of revenue in the six weeks immediately before the move Alert Level 4 on 17 August 2021.
New One-Off Transition Payment for Auckland, Waikato and Northland
A new transition payment will be made available particularly for affected businesses in Auckland, Waikato and Northland to acknowledge the restrictions they have faced under the higher alert levels.
A one-off payment will be activated through the Resurgence Support Payment system criteria and will be available from 10 December. This payment is at a higher base rate than the current RSP and will be $4000 per business plus $400 per FTE up to 50 FTEs - a maximum payment of $24,000. The affected 7 day revenue period will be set between 3 October and 9 November and compared to a typical week in the six weeks prior to 17 August.
As all businesses are expected to be able to open under the Covid Protection Framework, this transition payment reflects the end of broad based financial support.
AND FINALLY
Please send us photos of the amazing work you are producing so that we can include it on our Printed In New Zealand Instagram Page. Email tania.mcdougall@printnz.co.nz with any great pics/videos you have, particularly any festive products being printed. We will credit you in the hashtags.
Cheers
