Coronavirus: Businesses that claimed $5.3 billion in wage subsidies named
Monday, 6 April 2020
Restaurants, cafes, and supermarkets are among the businesses to receive a slice of the $5.3 billion in Government wage subsidies.
A register of subsidy recipients was launched late on Monday night and showed the damage wreaked on the economy, with almost no sector immune.
Even supermarkets and pharmacies, which have been allowed to stay open during the lockdown, have claimed from the scheme, meaning they've suffered a decline in revenue of 30 per cent.
Five Unichem pharmacies have claimed a collective $366,000 from the scheme, subsidising 59 jobs, and two New World supermarkets claimed $622,000 to subsidise the jobs of 91 employees.
But predictably it was the retail and hospitality sectors who have been hardest hit.
**READ MORE:
* Coronavirus: How to spot Covid-19's economic hit - check your wallet
* Coronavirus: Cash payments to citizens 'can't be ruled out'**
Big names in hospitality like The French Cafe and Coco's Cantina in Auckland received $137,700 and $95,400 to subsidise 20 and 16 jobs respectively.
In Wellington, restaurants such as Logan Brown and Havana bar received $158,700 and $125,000 while in Christchurch's coffee institution C1 Espresso received $137,700 for 20 employees.
Two McDonald's restaurants between them received $552,000. Even the liquor business is not unaffected, with Wellington brewery Garage Project getting $439,900 to subsidise 65 jobs.
Tourism has also been badly hit. Milford Sound Flights received $150,300.
The register is incomplete, and it's understood it only includes early applicants who have already been paid out. Larger firms are conspicuously absent, but it's possible these will have their details published later as their larger and potentially more complex applications are paid out.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday she was proud of the speed at which the subsidy was paying out, with 876,000 people receiving money.
'This is an incredible number when it comes to money we've got out the door in just a few weeks, particularly when you consider that in a number of other countries their wage subsidy schemes haven't yet started paying out and nor are they scheduled to, in many cases, for some weeks to come,' she said.
Ardern said it was important to publish the register for transparency reasons.
Employees can search the database to see if their employer was collecting the subsidy. If their employer is a recipient they are make best efforts to top up the $585 payment to a minimum of 80 percent of their normal income for the 12-week subsidised period.
The Government announced its wage subsidy scheme as the economic implications of Covid-19 became clear.
If a business had experienced 30 per cent decline in revenue compared to the year before, it could claim a subsidy from the Government to keep people employed rather than making them redundant.
It paid $585.80 per week for a full time employee and $350.00 per week for a part-time employee for a period of up to three months.
Businesses receive the payment as one lump sum, totalling $7,029.60 for a full time employee and $4,200 for a part time employee
Initially the scheme would only pay out $150,000 per business, meaning only relatively small businesses could claim it. That cap was later lifted, allowing all businesses, large and small, to subside their wage bill.