COVID 19 - Other Matters (19 March 2020)
1. Health & safety
There is a lot of information out there already, so we’ll keep this part short.
Make sure you are aware of your employer obligations. We recommend clear guidance to staff about when they should stay home. Further information can be found here.
Please stay safe out there.
2. Remote working
For businesses that have the ability to work remotely, it makes sense to start planning now. There are lots of useful tools out there to help with this.
We are a cloud-based firm so we are prepared to work remotely if required. We use the following cloud-based systems:
Xero – accounting
DocuSign – collecting signatures
Slack – team collaboration and communication
Zoom – video conferencing
Loom – screen recording (for demonstrating how to do things)
Sharepoint/OneDrive – file access
Windows 365 – email, calendar, excel, word etc
We are not IT experts but we have some practical experience. Feel free to reach out if you need help.
3. Insurance
Some businesses will have business interruption insurance. We understand from industry sources that in many cases policy exclusions for events relating to infectious or contagious disease may apply meaning that cover is not available. We recommend talking to your insurance advisor to understand your policy.
4. Income support measures for beneficiaries and superannuitants
Two permanent changes have been made to welfare payments:
Main benefits will rise by NZ$25 per week. These changes will come into effect on 1 April 2020 and are permanent.
From 1 July 2020, working families with children who are not receiving a main benefit and have some level of employment income each week will no longer have to satisfy the hours test to receive the In-Work Tax Credit (which was previously set at a minimum of 20 hours a week for sole parents and 30 hours a week for couples with children).
In addition, the Winter Energy Payment paid to superannuitants and beneficiaries will double in 2020. This temporary measure begins on 1 May 2020 and will be NZ$40.91 per week for single people and NZ$63.64 per week for couples or people with dependents.
5. Mental health
We are already seeing an increase in concern from our clients. Please know that we are available for a chat should the need arise.
Beyond this, Xero has been trialling a new pilot programme called the Xero Assistance Programme (XAP). XAP is available to all starter, standard and premium subscribers and gives them access to face-to-face, telephone, live chat and online counselling, as well as key resources, all paid for by Xero. More information and registration can be found here.
Xero also have some great webinar recordings focused on wellbeing that we encourage you to consider viewing. There’s everything from change management through to handling stress and building resilience.