The question on everyone’s mind, ‘When will the lock down end?’ looks likely to have an answer next week. The question industry companies have, ‘When can we return to work?’ will also have an answer.
Ruth Cobb, general manager PrintNZ, says, “The change in a nutshell is moving from ‘essential business’ to ‘safe business’ and I believe that all the businesses in our industry can work within that criteria. It means that if staff can work from home then they should continue to do so, and for those that can’t work from home i.e. production workers, the business needs to demonstrate they have procedures in place to ensure the safety of their staff when they return to work.”
She says that PrintNZ will work with its members to provide documentation and practices to allow them to get back to work, but there will be a number of things they need to take into consideration when thinking about re-opening their businesses, including work levels when they return and the staff levels required to do that work.
She says, “Communication with your staff at this time will be vital. There may be many that hear that the change to Level Three is happening (whenever that may be) and expect to be back at work two days later ready for business as usual. For many this will not be the case as it will take some time for work levels to be re-established. There may be an initial rush of work as printers re-open, but this may peter off again. There will still be many businesses that are unable to open fully and this will also affect potential work levels, depending on the make-up of your customer list.
“So you need to give some thought to how you balance the workload with staffing requirements and how that translates into payment to your staff. Hygiene and distancing will remain paramount, as will keeping track of who comes and goes from your premises so that contract tracing is easily managed if required.
“There will be a self-accreditation scheme in place to register your business; we will provide details of that once it is available and provide supporting documentation that you may need to complete that.
“It will be good to have our industry back in business, but remember that safety remains the number one goal, as we do not want to end up in Level Four again.”
Tax loss carry back scheme
This proposal will enable businesses expecting to make a loss in either the 2019/20 or 2020/2021 tax year to estimate that loss and use it to offset profit in the previous year. Cobb says, “In other words, they can carry that loss back one year, rather than having to carry it forward as they normally would. This would enable businesses to access their previous provisional tax payments as cash refunds and provide some much needed cashflow.”
The scheme requires a legislative change which will be introduced into Parliament the week beginning April 27. It is expected to be applied retrospectively to allow this to take effect for provisional tax payments due May 7.
She adds, “There will be many questions businesses have about how this temporary loss carry-back scheme will apply and once the legislation is enacted, IRD will publish guidance on how it will be administered and PrintNZ will circulate this.
Face Visors
PrintNZ member Permark Industries has turned its hand to making face visors, which are available to members at the special price of $6.80 plus GST and courier.
The light shield, designed to prevent splashing, coughing or sneezing moisture getting in the eyes, nose or mouth, also reduces the chances of the wearer touching their face. You wear it while on the phone, or when talking to people and it doesn’t muffle your voice like a face mask can.
The easy to fit shield has a 3M adhesive at the end of the strap which can be adjusted and reapplied and the face can be easily wiped down with a damp cloth or sterile wipe.
