What's an essential worker, anyway?
Wednesday, 18 August 2021
New Zealand has entered its first nationwide lockdown in over a year, due to multiple cases of the delta variant of Covid-19 being discovered in the Auckland region.
The change in alert levels has meant many workers across the country have converted their kitchen tables into a home office.
But many essential service workers are gearing up for another day in their normal place of work.
**READ MORE:
* Covid-19: Can I see my GP or visit a hospital? What level 4 means for health services
* Covid-19 NZ: Everything you need to know about level 4 lockdown
* Nearly 30 flights in and out of Auckland on Friday cancelled
* Coronavirus three-day lockdown: What it means for Auckland and the rest of NZ
**
The number of essential workers who will continue to go to work as normal at alert level 4 is 529,000, according to data from MBIE.
A further 139,000 people will perform their essential services from home.
Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment deputy chief executive Paul Stocks previously told Stuff that if people were not sure if they were an essential service, they probably were not.
So who is an essential worker?
Biggest essential workforces:
According to MBIE data the largest essential workforce is in healthcare and social assistance, with just under 250,000 essential workers.
Of these workers, MBIE predicts that only 150,000 workers will be working in their place of employment, with another 100,000 workers either working from home or unable to work.
The second-biggest essential industry was agriculture, forestry and fishing with 150,000 essential workers.
The third-largest number of essential workers was in manufacturing. Still, under alert level 4, only 70,000 workers would be able to work as usual, out of the 250,000 workers who are usually employed.
Essential workforces by region and ethnicity:
Southland has the largest percentage of essential workers, with more than 27 per cent of its workforce continuing to work in their place of employment under alert level 4.
Auckland, the region where the current cases have been located has the smallest amount of essential workers going to work of any region, with just under 15 per cent.
Wellington has the second-lowest level of essential workers operating from their place of employment at just over 15 per cent.
On a national scale, there are more males than females employed in essential services.
Despite this, more females will work from their workplace under level 4 lock down restrictions, than males.
More than 100,000 essential workers who work from their usual place of employment under alert level 4 are Maori or Pasifika.
Essential services allowed to have customers on the premises:
Only 14 types of essential services are allowed to have customers on their premises.
These are:
- Supermarket, dairy or food bank
Pharmacy
Liquor store (in areas with a licensing trust)
Petrol station
Self-service laundry
Hardware store (for trade customers only)
Health service
Accommodation service
Court or tribunal
Social and community-based service to maintain critical wellbeing or crisis support
Emergency service
Parliamentary services
Passenger transport by road, rail, air or sea
School hostel.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Wednesday masks must be worn by all customers entering the premises of essential services.
All essential workers in customer facing roles are also required to wear masks.
Customers and employees are expected to follow social distancing requirements, staying at least two metres apart from other people, sanitizing their hands, and using the Covid-19 tracer app.
Essential business types:
Accommodation services (including; hotels; boarding houses; campgrounds; backpackers; seasonal worker accommodation; tertiary student accommodation.)
Building, construction and maintenance services (only allowed to operate if the primary goal is to address immediate risks to health and safety, or are building nationally important infrastructure)
Education (required to provide distance or online learning for primary and secondary education.)
Foreign government (embassies, other entities maintaining critical operations at foreign missions based in New Zealand.)
Freight services
Government services (only if the service is a regulatory or social service, or relates to the Covid-19 response, or cannot reasonably be delayed.)
Health services
General practitioners (doctors)
Justice sector (Courts of New Zealand and Tribunals.)
Key utilities (business that supply the supply or disposal of either; electricity; gas; water; wastewater; waste; fuel; telecommunications)
Parliamentary services
Primary industries (food and beverage processing and production, and veteriinary services)
Retail stores (only via online orders for essential consumer products. They cannot allow customer to enter the premises.)
Scientific services
Security services
Social services
School hostels
Services for deceased persons
Supermarkets, dairies, petrol stations, pharmacies, food banks, self-service laundries
Transport and logistics
Food delivery services
Hardware stores (only open for trade customers working to help maintain other essential services)
Key communications (news, broadcast media and delivery of non-English language newspapers.)
Pest management
Businesses or services necessary to maintain other alert level 4 businesses
Pulp and paper plants
Residential care services
Greengrocers, butchers and fishmongers (can sell via contactless orders.)
Businesses not included in this list who have been given licence to operate by the government include; Tiwai Point aluminium smelter; Methanex; and NZ Steel.
If an essential service has employees working on site, the business owner should limit the number of people on site, so everyone can safely stay two metres apart , offer flexible working arrangements, for example, staggered meal breaks, or staggered start and finish times to help with physical distancing, clean and disinfect the workplace regularly , provide employees with handwashing facilities , have personal protective equipment (PPE) available for employees to use , encourage workers to wear a face covering if physical distancing is difficult and display a QR code and have an alternative contact tracing system available.
How to travel if you are an essential worker:
Essential workers are entitled to use public transport to commute.
However, travellers may be asked to show proof of employment at an essential service, to prove they have a reason to travel.
The government has recommended all employers provide employees with a letter to confirm who they are, and their role.
All travellers on public transport must legally must wear a face covering, including at departure points such as train stations and bus stops unless they have a medical exemption.
Essential workers are also permitted to travel within their region via private vehicle, taxi or ride-sharing app if it is to access their workplace or another essential service.
Ferries are open to essential movement only, or those returning home in the next 48 hours.
Sailings to Rangitoto, Tiritiri Matangi, Rotoroa and Coromandel are cancelled until further notice.
* CORRECTION: This story has been clarified to make it clear liquor stores are essential only in areas with a licensing trust. (Updated August 18, 9.14pm.)