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Work homepage
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Overview
We can help you get ready to apply and find the right job for you. We can even help you while you're working.
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Get ready to work
You can get training, help with CVs and cover letters, and advice for job interviews.
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Find jobs
Find out what jobs are available, which job is best for you and how you can plan your career.
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Working
Whether you've just started a job or need some help at work, we've got your back.
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Lost your job
We'll help you get ready to find a new job and support you while you're between jobs.
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Start your own business
Get help to plan and set up a successful business or be a self-employed contractor.
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Benefits and payments homepage
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Overview
Take a look at the range of benefits and payments we have available.
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Not working
Redundancy, health condition or disability or another reason you can’t work
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Living expenses
Food, school costs, power, accommodation or other living expenses you need help with
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Relationship changes
You’ve had a relationship break-up, family breakdown or violent relationship end
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Health and Disability
Counselling, prescription and GP costs, medical alarms and other costs we can help with
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Seniors
Travelling overseas, how to apply, payment rates and dates, overseas pensions, income and other info for Seniors
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Caring
Caring for someone else’s child or someone with a health condition, injury or disability
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Urgent or unexpected costs
Dental, glasses, car repairs, fridge, washing machine, funeral or other urgent costs you need help with
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Children
Childcare, school uniforms, stationery, having a baby and other costs if you have children
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Moving to New Zealand
Payments you can get from us, settling into NZ, overseas pensions and more.
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Benefits and forms
A-Z list of benefits, forms, benefit rates
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On a benefit homepage
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Overview
Check out what you need to do when you're getting a benefit or other payment from us.
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Something's changed
Address, contact details, overseas travel, childcare, relationship or anything else that’s changed.
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Income
Declare income and income deduction tables
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Childcare
Change in your childcare situation, continue childcare payments, cohort entry schools and other childcare information
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Going overseas
Travelling or moving overseas may affect your payments.
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Re-apply
Re-apply for Jobseeker Support, Sole Parent Support, Temporary Additional Support and more
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Payments
Check or stop your payments, payment cards and other information
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Debt
Check your debt, repayments and other debt information
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Rights and responsibilities
Our commitment to you, obligations, complaints, benefit fraud and more
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Housing homepage
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Overview
Find out how we can help you with housing.
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Nowhere to stay
Get help if you have nowhere to stay right now.
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Find a house
Find out where to look for private housing, or apply for public (social) housing.
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Living in your home
Get help with accommodation costs, and advice on any housing issues and public housing tenancies.
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Moving house
Find out how we can help if you’re moving house.
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Other languages
Read some of our housing information in other languages.
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Previous COVID-19 payments
Find information about previous payments that were available during COVID-19. This includes the COVID-19 Wage Subsidies, Income Relief Payment, Short-Term Absence Payment and Leave Support Scheme.
During COVID-19 our role was to help employers and self-employed people so they could keep paying their staff and keep them in their jobs. We also helped people who lost their jobs due to COVID-19.
List of previous COVID-19 payments
Available from 6 April 2020 (then called 'COVID-19 Essential Workers Leave Support Scheme') until 15 August 2023. It was to help employers, and self-employed people, pay employees who had to self-isolate due to COVID-19.
Available from 9 February 2021 to 17 October 2022. It was to help businesses pay their employees while they waited for PCR test results.
Available from 20 August 2021 to 9 December 2021. These were a series of 9 payments to help businesses pay staff and protect jobs affected by the alert level changes on 17 August 2021.
Available from 4 March 2021 to 21 March 2021. It was to help businesses pay staff impacted by the alert level changes on 28 February 2021.
Available from 21 August 2020 to 3 September 2020. It was to help businesses who had a decline in revenue keep paying their staff.
Available from 8 June 2020 to 14 November 2020. It was to help people who lost their jobs because of COVID-19.
Available from 10 June 2020 to 1 September 2020. It was to help businesses who had a decline in revenue keep paying their staff.
Available from 17 March 2020 to 9 June 2020. It was to help businesses who had a decline in revenue keep paying their staff.
Available from 17 March 2020 to 27 March 2020. It was to help businesses keep paying their staff who could not work because they were in self-isolation.
Obligations and repayments
All COVID-19 payments had obligations which employers and self-employed people who applied were required to meet. These obligations included:
- paying their employees correctly
- keeping their employees in their jobs
- keeping evidence to show they were eligible for the payment
- following employment law
- repaying the payment if they were no longer entitled to it.
The full eligibility and obligations details are listed in the declarations of each payment.
If a business does not meet these obligations, or no longer meets the criteria, they may need to repay the COVID-19 payment.
Find out when a business needs to repay this and how to repay it:
Businesses that received a Wage Subsidy
You can search on the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) website to see which businesses were paid a COVID-19 Wage Subsidy.
The search will tell you:
- the name of the business
- the number of employees they were paid for
- the amount paid.
Information for employees
Only employers or self-employed people could make an application for a COVID-19 payment. This means your employer had to apply for you, you could not make an application for yourself.
Your employer must have told you they were applying for you before they applied. They must also have had your consent to share some of your details with us. They must have declared they did this when they applied.
Your employer can't change your employment agreement unless you agree to the change first. Your employer still has to follow your employment agreement during COVID-19, including how much you get paid.
Talk to your employer if you have questions about whether they got a COVID-19 payment for you, or how this was paid.
You can also find information on the Employment New Zealand website: