New Zealand will be moving to Alert Level 3 on Tuesday 28th of April but what does this mean for you and your business?
Here’s a summary:
- You will be able to expand your bubble by “a small amount”
- Some businesses will be able to get back up and running if you are able to remain contactless and/or obtain social distancing measures. Bars, cafes/restaurants, hairdressers, malls etc will remain closed, but food delivery, drive-thru and online shopping can begin.
- Travel restrictions will move from local to regional.
- People must still work from home if they can, but if this is not possible, rules around social distancing and contactless engagement apply. Industries such as building, construction and forestry can resume.
- If your business is reopening, you must have some sort of contact tracing procedure. For example a form for anyone who has entered or exited the business. You can find a template here.
- Customers are not allowed on your premises (except for supermarkets, dairies and petrol stations) unless you can trade without physical contact (eg through phone, online orders, delivery, pick-up and drive through).
- You must operate safely which means complying with Level 3, meet public health requirements for your workplace eg hygiene, cleaning regimes, social distancing etc and fulfil health and safety obligations. The Canterbury Chamber of Commerce have developed a helpful Level 3 Health and Safety Guideline which you can download here. They also have a team of Health & Safety advisers that can help you with your specific business needs. You can email info@cecc.org.nz or phone 0800 50 50 96.
- The Government announced more support for small to medium size businesses, which you can read more about here. If you are a client, we will be in direct communication with you regarding where the tax concessions apply to you.
This week is a great week to prepare your Business and COVID-19 Alert Level 3 Plan for reopening. Here is some useful information and templates to help you with your plan:
- The Canterbury Chamber of Commerce have come out with an Alert Level 3 – returning to work checklist which you can find a copy of here.
- This a copy of our Accounting Solutions COVID-19 Policy, which you can view here . This is in word form so you can adapt this for your industry and business needs. Make sure you get your team to review and add to this policy, because it becomes part of your Health and Safety procedures. You are welcome to add a section that relates to your internal Health and Safety manual. The Health and Safety guideline document we have linked above, may be able to give you some more ideas of what to add to your Health and Safety section.
First morning back with your employees, it’s so important to get the message across that contact tracing and still following Government guidelines (within your bubble at home), is essential to keep everyone well and safe at work, so the business can remain open. If someone was to contract this virus, it could be detrimental for your business. - Site Safe have a few different COVID-19 protocols for the Construction industry, you can find the link for this here.
If you are unsure about if you are allowed to reopen your business, please feel free to contact us on 03 374 9393 or email business@asl.co.nz
This update from Tony Alexander (Chief Economist) also has some great insights of how some businesses have managed to get through previous recessions – Input to your Strategy for Adapting to Challenges.
New data from Infometrics shows that New Zealand’s economy could take up to two years to recover from the COVID-19 crisis. They predict the loss of international tourism alone will knock GDP by 5.2 percent, with unemployment averaging above 9 per cent next year and house prices falling 11 per cent. If we are doing a forward budget for you, we will take these things into consideration.
If you joined us for our Continuity and Cashflow plan webinar (you can watch the recording here) you’ll remember the the two characters that make up the word crisis are danger and opportunity. So keep your eyes and ears open for opportunity and be adaptable.
We are currently sending out regular newsletters with important COVID-19 updates, advice and templates to help you and your business, so make sure you are signed up so you don’t miss out. – Sign me up!