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Self-isolation is a vital tool against the spread of omicron – and it will mean many of us taking time off work. (Image: Tina Tiller)
Self-isolation is a vital tool against the spread of omicron – and it will mean many of us taking time off work. (Image: Tina Tiller)

SocietyJanuary 26, 2022

Your rights as a worker if omicron finds its way into your life

Self-isolation is a vital tool against the spread of omicron – and it will mean many of us taking time off work. (Image: Tina Tiller)
Self-isolation is a vital tool against the spread of omicron – and it will mean many of us taking time off work. (Image: Tina Tiller)

Self-isolating while waiting for test results or if you test positive is a vital part of protecting each other from Covid-19. But how can you ensure you can still pay your rent if you have to stay home from work?

While we should be doing everything we can to steer clear of Covid-19 (meaning: vaccinations, boosters, avoiding high-risk environments and wearing good quality masks), with the fast-spreading omicron variant now in our community, it’s more likely than ever that we will encounter the virus in one way or another. Because of this, there are myriad reasons we might need to self-isolate – to protect ourselves, whānau and communities. But how do we make sure we can still pay our rent and bills while we’re doing the extremely important job of isolating? 

If you’re in a position where you can work from home this is a lot easier, and you should still be paid as normal. Although, even if you can do your job from home, you obviously don’t have to work if you’re unwell. 

For those who can’t work from home, it gets a little more complicated. 

Theoretically, if your ability to work is impacted by Covid-19 you should be paid your regular wages by your employer and you shouldn’t need to dig into your leave, especially because the government has created support schemes that cover most situations. Here’s a bunch of scenarios and what you should be entitled to during that isolation period if you can’t work from home.

I’m waiting for test results because I’ve been at a location of interest/ I’m a close contact/ I’m symptomatic

Your employer should apply for the Covid-19 Short-Term Absence Payment for you while you await test results at home. This is a one-off $359 payment to pass on to you. You can also apply for this if you’re self-employed. Your employer can only apply for it once, for each eligible employee, in any 30-day period. 

I need to look after a dependent who is waiting for test results

Same as above. 

Someone in my household is a close contact or has been at a location of interest

You’ll likely need to isolate at home while they await their results too, so you’re entitled to the same as above if you’ve been directed to self-isolate too by health officials.

I need to self-isolate for a second time while waiting for test results

Unfortunately, your employer can only apply for the short-term payment once a month for each employee. If you find yourself, your dependent or a household member waiting for test results more than once in a month, your employer should still attempt to pay you. If they don’t pay you during this time, get in touch with your union or Work and Income for support.

The Covid-19 testing centre at White Cross St Lukes in Auckland (Photo: Matthew McAuley)

I’ve tested positive and can’t work from home

If you’ve been asked by health officials to self-isolate for four or more consecutive days, your employer should apply for the Covid-19 Leave Support Scheme to support you until an official says you no longer need to self-isolate. You can apply for this if you’re self-employed too. 

Your employer can get $600 each week if you work full time (20 hours or more a week), and $359 each week if you work part time (less than 20 hours a week) to pass on to you. 

Someone in my household or a dependent has tested positive

Because you’ll have to be isolated too, your employer should apply for the Covid-19 Leave Support Scheme to pass onto you.

A health professional has told our household to isolate to reduce the risk of transmitting Covid-19 to vulnerable household members

Your employer should apply for the Leave Support Scheme on your behalf.

What if I’m a casual worker?

You should still be entitled to these support payments and your employer must seek them for you. It’s important to note that if you have a regular pattern of work over a period of time, the law would classify you as an employee rather than casual – so you have the same rights as a permanent worker.

What if I’ve just been hired but haven’t started work yet?

Your employer should still apply for these schemes if you end up having to self-isolate.

I can technically work from home as a positive case, but I’m feeling unwell

It’s important you look after your health if you’re feeling sick because of Covid-19. So, if you’re feeling unwell, take sick leave or ask your employer to apply for the Covid-19 Leave Support Scheme.

What if I’m in one of these situations and my employer still wants me to come to my workplace?

The Employment New Zealand website guides explains that if you have Covid-19 or are required to self-isolate under Ministry of Health guidelines, “the first consideration for an employer should be to look after people, contain Covid-19 and protect public health”. 

Your employer cannot require or allow workers to come to a workplace if they are required to isolate for Covid-19. If they do this, they could be in breach of their duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act. 

What if my employer isn’t supporting me to isolate?

It could be useful to bring this up with your employer ahead of time, to get clarity around what the plan is if you end up needing to self-isolate at some point. If you’ve been considering it, take this opportunity to join your union. Check in on your coworkers and do what you can to make sure you’re all being treated fairly and consistently and approach your employer with concerns as a unified group if you need to.  

Your health and safety should be the top priority for your employer. Employers not supporting staff to isolate poses a pretty massive risk to public health, the health of individuals and their business too. So, if there are issues, it’s certainly worth bringing them up with your employer. If you can’t pay your bills get in touch with Work and Income. 

Keep going!
None of the events pictured are going ahead. (Image Design: Tina Tiller)
None of the events pictured are going ahead. (Image Design: Tina Tiller)

OPINIONSocietyJanuary 25, 2022

After two years of hurt, can live arts recover from red?

None of the events pictured are going ahead. (Image Design: Tina Tiller)
None of the events pictured are going ahead. (Image Design: Tina Tiller)

This latest shift into red could be the last for many artists, writes Sam Brooks.

I had the good fortune to be out of phone service when the push notifications came through. I also had the good fortune to get into a friend’s car and have them ask warmly, but with resignation:

“Have you heard the news?”

This friend, like myself, works in the arts. The kind of arts that require many people to be in the same room. The kind of arts that put both artists and audiences in the line of fire for a virus that wants to be shared more than any experience does. The kind of arts that can exist in a time of Covid-19, but not thrive.

There was only one piece of news it could be.

“Red light at 11.59 tonight.”

The sad thing is that we were expecting it. The word “red” had already become a dirty word by the start of the new year: a sentence that started “If we go into red…” didn’t need to be finished. If we, the nation, went into red then a show that needed more than 100 people in a room to break even would have weeks, months, maybe even years of planning cut down in an instant. Red is a lockdown that only applies to people who make their living from the arts.

We spent the next two hours driving home to Auckland. As we came back into service, the messages started drifting in on the phone: “We’re fucked”, “How was the last event you’ll attend this year?”, “[Name of event] cancelling!”, “[Name of event] cancelled!”. 

In the car, we talked about friends who would be caught out. Friends who were two weeks into a six-week gig and didn’t have a job come 11.59pm; friends who had planned festivals for months and years; friends who don’t just rely on the arts for a pay cheque, but a sense of purpose.

These conversations aren’t going to stop anytime soon. The longer we stay at red, the more cancellations we’ll have. Behind every cancellation, though, are artists whose livelihoods have been ripped away from them. Take Auckland Pride Festival, among the first events to cancel. Eighty events wiped out by one press release. Hundreds of artists impacted, thousands of audience members with gaps in the calendar.

Auckland Pride Festival in 2021. (Photo: Auckland Pride)

Audiences can fill gaps, easily. Artists, not so much.

The shows that can go ahead are barely any luckier. Events with fewer than 100 people still have to socially distance, so are going ahead with limited capacities, and the looming threat of an increasingly infectious virus. Artists and producers still have the anxiety, and the uncertainty, of coming into work every day knowing that tonight could be the night they have to cancel, the night that venue pops up as a location of interest, hell, maybe even the night they test positive themselves.

Nobody is arguing against the restrictions; we know why they’re there at this point. However, the removal of broad restrictions has been replaced with the burden of personal responsibility: “Do I put myself and my audience at risk to do my art?” 

It should be simple: no piece of art is worth getting sick or getting someone else sick for. It’s a horrible onus to put on artists and producers, and my heart goes out to those who have to come up with an answer to that question. There are no right answers, just unpleasant compromises.

These anxieties aren’t unique to the live arts. These anxieties descend on everybody who goes into a workplace or supermarket, or has an after-work beer with a mate. But these anxieties hit differently for artists. It’s the anxiety of running towards the finish line at full tilt, not knowing if the earth could suddenly open up, swallowing you and your career with one location of interest notification.

Yes, there’s government support (not enough), but government support doesn’t get you your time back. It doesn’t get the time you’ve spent twiddling your fingers because you can’t do the thing that you make a living from, the thing you love, the thing you’ve devoted your life to.

A pandemic requires that society makes sacrifices. We stay at home, we stay away from our friends, we lean on essential workers to keep the world running. Artists are not unique in making sacrifices for the better good. Hell, we’re even used to it, working long hours for less than we’re worth to bring a little more light into the world.

But sacrifice does not draw from an unlimited pool of resources. Love, passion and resilience all run out eventually. The community rallies around each other, but there will be a last straw. If you can’t do the thing you’ve worked your entire life to do, you will eventually find another thing. Passion does not keep the lights on. The great resignation becomes the great “why the fuck would I bother?”

The thing that Covid takes away from us all – the feeling of being safe and secure in a room with other people – takes everything away from artists. Right now, you might not feel it. But when you’re looking for something to do with your night and you see our spaces empty, you’ll feel it. When artists suffer, and when they have nothing left to sacrifice, audiences suffer. We all suffer.

For you, red light means stop. Wait for orange, wait for green, wait for normal life to resume. 

But if you work in the arts, this red light might be the one where you get out of the car, leave the keys in the ignition and walk away forever. 

But wait there's more!