New COVID-19 Short-Term Absence Payment

The new COVID-19 Short-Term Absence Payment (STAP) is available to businesses from the 9th February 2021 as part of the Government’s Business Support Package. The purpose of the payment is to help businesses pay employees who are unable to work while they await a COVID-19 test result.

How it works:

Businesses can apply to the Ministry of Social Development for a one off payment of $350 to help cover the cost of paying an employee’s wages who are self-isolating when waiting for a COVID-19 test result.

The payment applies to workers that:

• Are unable to work from home; and
• Are required to stay at home while waiting for a COVID-19 test result.

Businesses can only apply for the payment once per worker in any 30-day period unless the worker is instructed by an appropriate health official to get another test.

The payment applies to workers awaiting their own test results, the results of a dependent or person in the same household as them, or workers who have been told by a health official to self-isolate if they are a close contact of somebody awaiting a critical test result.

Carmel Sepuloni, the Minister for Social Development and Employment, recognises the strong role that business has to play in the pandemic recovery. He says, “This payment will help reduce financial pressure on businesses and encourage them to continue their valuable role in keeping COVID-19 in check.”

The STAP is an extension of the Ministry of Social Development’s Leave Support Scheme (which you can read more about in our recent article here).

Want to know more?

If you have any questions about the Leave Support Scheme or Resurgence Wage Subsidy, please contact our specialist Employment Team.

PDF version: New COVID-19 Short-Term Absence Payment