Some Scott Tech staff now on unpaid leave
SOME Scott Tech staff sent home last week before the lockdown took place will be without any pay until the company gets its wage subsidy application approved.
The company’s senior managers and executive team have all agreed to a pay cut.
A worker at Dunedin’s biggest technology company contacted the Otago Daily Times about the situation after staff were told at a morning meeting last Tuesday to begin packing up and go home before the lockdown took effect on Thursday.
‘‘All staff were sent home without pay for the duration of this lockdown during Alert
Level 4 in New
Zealand,’’ the employee said.
‘‘I’m repeat ing, no pay.
‘‘No attempt was made to organise their employees to work from home. There is work to be done, and that work could’ve been realised if employees had been allowed to take their desktops home.’’
The worker said staff were told they could use annual or accrued leave to continue being paid.
But, as Scott Tech usually closes down over the Christmas period, many people had used up most or all of their annual leave then, he said.
‘‘It is also not acceptable to put employees in a position to have to use leave to be paid.’’
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment says employers ‘‘cannot unlawfully require or compel the employees named in their [wage subsidy] application to use their leave entitlements.’’
But the ministry said employers and employees could agree to have annual leave used.
Where the two parties do not agree to take annual leave the employer can ‘‘direct annual leave to be taken if they have first discussed this with the employee and provided 14 days’ notice before the annual leave is to be taken’’.
The Scott Tech employee said he was supporting a family with his wages and being furloughed had ‘‘caused a huge amount of stress at an already stressful time’’.
He said it was not likely the wage subsidy alone would even cover his mortgage payments.
Scott Tech chief executive John Kippenberger said the company made the call to shut down before it was in a position where it might have people working past the lockdown time.
‘‘We let employees know they could access annual leave and any other leave entitlements they were due and . . . we would be working tirelessly to ensure they got access to the Government wage subsidy as soon as they could.’’
He admitted some people would be on leave without pay — but he was not able to comment on how leave around Christmas was managed as he had only been chief executive for about three months.
‘‘I don’t know the details of all the employees, but if they haven’t got annual leave entitlements still available then they will be on leave without pay.
‘‘There is normally a shutdown period over Christmas with this company, like a lot of other companies, but I couldn’t [say] how that is managed.’’
There would be a ‘‘significant’’ number of the company’s 800 employees around the world not receiving pay right now, he said.
As a result, the executive and broader leadership team at Scott had agreed to a pay cut.
‘‘It comes at a time when we’re working very hard . . . we just thought it was the right thing to do to show empathy and understanding with the group.’’
He would not say how much the pay cut was but that it was a ‘‘meaningful number’’ and ‘‘an absolute sign that we’re all in this together’’.
But, Mr Kippenberger was confident the company would be able to get the wage subsidy scheme for its New Zealand staff — describing it as ‘‘imminent’’ and likely to be confirmed by the end of today.
Mr Kippenberger said he and other senior figures at the company were working long hours — including weekends and nights — to ensure the company would come back strong once the alert level was lowered.
‘‘That is a lot of work . . . not only going on in New Zealand but around other parts of our global group to make sure we’re in what I’m calling a ‘fast start’ to come out of Covid19.’’
The company was also starting to look at whether some jobs could be done from home.
‘‘But what aspect of processes or jobs can continue . . . for example some designers and some projects from home.
‘‘So we are trying to keep projects moving so we can get the business back to a fast start when the Covid19 restrictions come off in New Zealand.’’
Mr Kippenberger said the company’s first priority had always been the safety of its staff, and it had taken measures leading up to the lockdown such as avoiding large congregations in the workplace.