Covid-19: Omicron information

The start of 2022 has bought slightly more uncertainty around Covid-19 and how workplaces need to prepare.

A lot of the resources and information that are available don’t cover domestic workers, or nannies, so the purpose of this post is to provide a bit more guidance around how domestic employers can prepare for the next few months.

It’s important to note that we aren’t employment lawyers so our guidance below is for general information only. It’s also a bit of a moving targeting so we’ll try and update this if anything changes

Stay at home requirements

It is likely that isolation requirements will change over the coming months. Outlined below are the key details which we’ve summarised from the ministry of health website as at today.

https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-health-advice-public/covid-19-staying-home

Both nannies and employers should stay home if you are identified as:

• A casual contact who is experiencing Covid-19 symptoms
• A member of the general public who is experiencing Covid-19 symptoms
• A household member of a close contact when either they, or you, are experiencing Covid-19 symptoms

If you’re a casual contact who is not experiencing any symptoms, you aren’t required to stay home. However, in most cases if either the family or the nanny is experiencing Covid-19 symptoms it appears prudent that the nanny should stay home until a negative test is received.

Covid-19 Isolation requirements

If a family, or their nanny, does receive Covid-19 then there is a mandatory isolation requirements. Some more details on this are on the ministry of health website:

https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-health-advice-public/advice-people-covid-19#isolating

What is required when isolating:

• If someone tests positive for Covid-19 they are required to isolate for 14 days, which includes being 72-hours symptom free
• Other household members will need to isolate for 10 days from the last exposure and would need to be tested immediately, on day 5 and on day 8 after last exposure
• If a nanny tested positive, they would need to isolate for 14 days. The family would be required to isolate for 10 days from the last day she was at work (unless they also tested positive)
• In theory, if a family tested positive and the nanny didn’t test positive. The nanny could be back at work 10 days after their last exposure or after 14 days (whichever is longer).

Leave entitlements

One of the key principals which has remained throughout the Covid-19 pandemic is that employees are required to be paid their minimum entitlements.

The link below contains some general employment advice around leave and entitlements:

https://www.employment.govt.nz/leave-and-holidays/other-types-of-leave/coronavirus-workplace/leave-and-pay-entitlements-during-covid-19/

The key principles should be followed:

• If a nanny continues to work, then no leave is required
• ·If a nanny is fit, able and ready to work but cannot do so – they should continue to be paid normal wages unless an agreement is reached
• If a nanny was required to self-isolate then this would likely mean they were “unable to work” and could take a combination of sick and annual leave
• If a nanny is sick, or caring for dependents, they should be eligible to paid sick leave or annual leave
• Families and nannies should negotiate any leave in good faith
• Normal leave entitlements remain and a nanny wouldn’t automatically be allowed to go in to negative sick leave. However, the employer can allow this to occur in good faith
• If someone does receive Covid-19, we would recommend getting in touch ASAP so we can chat through the subsidy options available

If you’d like to know what leave balances your nanny currently has, please send us an email at [email protected]. We’re in the process of building a custom platform that will allow this to be seen automatically and we’re hoping to roll this out in April this year.

Subsidies Available:

Short Term Absence Payment (“STAP”)

The STAP is a one-off amount paid to employers when employees can't work from home while they wait for a Covid test result.

A link to more detailed information on the scheme:

https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/covid-19/short-term-absence-payment/

The key takeaways:

• The STAP is a one-off payment of $359 and needs to be passed on in full to the nanny, via their wages
• Whilst we haven’t seen any official confirmation, it appears that the intention of this subsidy means that it would also apply where a family was required to be tested for Covid, even if the nanny wasn’t, and the nanny was unable to attend work
• Applications for this payment can only be made once every 30 days unless a test is required by a medical professional or a doctor
• A nanny is unlikely to be able to perform her work from home so this subsidy should be available in nearly all cases where a family or nanny is required to stay at home while they await a test

Leave Subsidy Scheme

Payable to employees who are required to self-isolate and are unable to work from home.

A link to more detailed information on the scheme:

https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/covid-19/leave-support-scheme/index.html

The key takeaways

• The leave support scheme is paid at $600 p/week for those working more than 20 hours p/week and $359 for those working less that 20 hours per week.
• Payments are made weekly and must be passed on in full to the nanny, via their wages
• Further applications can be made beyond one week
• It can’t be received at the same time as any other subsidies are being received (i.e STAP)
• To be eligible there needs to be some documentation that self-isolation is required (i.e from Ministry of Health of a medical professional)
• Again, we haven’t seen any confirmation around whether this applies where families are required to isolate, but the nannies are. However, at this stage we assume that it would be applicable because the nanny is fit and able to work but cannot complete her duties from home.

Making an application

Applications for either the STAP or the leave support scheme will need to come via us. We don’t charge any fees or charges for this as they are part of the service we provide.

If you need to make an application then please get in touch at [email protected]

Other Questions



It can get pretty complex when trying to navigate employment requirements throughout the current outbreak and the answer isn’t always clear-cut.

If you’re unsure of what to do, or just want some general advice, don’t hesitate to get in contact with us at [email protected]