Wage subsidy database inundated with requests
Tuesday, 7 April 2020
Kiwi workers have flooded the website naming businesses who have received the Government's wage subsidy.
The Covid-19 Wage Subsidy Employer Search has been dealing with heavy traffic since it went live on Monday night.
But for many, the page now just says it has reached the maximum number of searches.
When the page works, it allows for employees to search a database by company name to see if a business has applied for the subsidy and how much it received.
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The Government announced on Saturday that it would name the companies who applied for the coronavirus wage subsidy scheme.
It will be followed in the next two weeks by the naming of sole traders and the self-employed in a public register.
Employees must be paid at least the full subsidy amount ($585 a week for a fulltime worker) or their total pay if it is less than that.
Over $4.8 billion has been paid out in the last two weeks, slightly more than is usually paid out in unemployment and sole-parent benefits in an entire year.
According to Finance Minister Grant Robertson the subsidy has helped 800,000 Kiwis, including 120,000 sole traders or self-employed people.
'The wage subsidy is keeping employers and employees connected to one another during the lockdown, so they are in the best position to reopen and kick-start the economy on the other side,' Robertson said.
But there have been some concerns that employers have applied for the wage subsidy while still making staff redundant.
The Ministry of Social Development has been approached for comment.