Sickness wave ‘gnarliest’ yet
‘Gnarliest’ flu yet hitting Bay of Plenty businesses harder than Covid-19; staff shortages put some firms in survival mode, bosses say
ABay of Plenty boss worked more than 100 hours in just over a week to cover staff sickness, and one restaurant has had to close three times. One business had large numbers of clients not turning up for appointments, while another experienced a 40 per cent drop in staff available to work due to illness.
Business owners say the impact of the seasonal flu has been one of the “gnarliest” yet and “rougher than Covid” on most employees.
Their comments come as Otago University epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker called for mandatory isolation for people with the flu, just like if they had Covid.
NZME also last week reported Bay of Plenty GP clinics were grappling with high demand as influenza and Covid-19 plagued local health services.
Elizabeth Cafe and Larder coowner Connie Richards said most of her staff have had Covid but now it was the flu, which has been “rougher than Covid on everyone”.
“The flu we have got at the moment is one of the gnarliest we have had in several years. because we have been closed off to the rest of the world so it is kind of expected . . .
“We have been lucky to scrape through I guess.”
Richards said last week was tough on her and business partner George Gibson. She worked six days in a row, including a 13-hour shift, to cover staff sickness
“We were working big hours just to cover all the shifts and keep the doors open.
“I was so stressed out I felt like I hadn’t delivered a good service at that 13th hour and I was in tears because I was just like strung out, tired . . . just over it.
“But you always just get through. It was just unfortunate that people got sick but you can’t do anything about that.”
She said it was “extremely draining” after two and a half years of dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It’s just another slap in the face . . . No one wants anyone to be at work when they are sick.”
Asked how the business was dealing with the latest wave of sickness, Richards said: “Survival”.
“You are up s*** creek without a paddle, you have just got to keep going. There is no other option.
“Business owners don’t get sick days . . . We have just got no other option. Going to work puts food on my table.”
Luckily, Richards said she had not fallen sick and took daily vitamins to try and prevent getting ill. If she did, the business would have to close.
“I don’t know how I haven’t actually got sick, touch wood, because we have been surrounded by it.”
Richards said it had only been about a month since the start of the year that they had been able to open seven days again.
It has been six and a half months of opening five or six days because of illness, she said.
About 11 staff were rostered across that five-day week, she said.
“Throughout that time there was always at least one person sick. We would have to close because we just didn’t have the numbers to keep the doors open.”
That happened about three or four times, she said.
Richards said she was thankful the public was understanding which had changed “massively”.
“Business owners don’t get sick days . . . We have just
got no other option. Going to work puts food on my table.”
Connie Richards
“You don’t get any sort of grief from it so that has probably been a nice outcome from it all.”
Tauranga Budget Advisory Service manager Shirley Mccombe said staff absenteeism was impacting day-today business and large numbers of clients were not attending appointments because of sickness.
“The flu is affecting some people worse than the Covid.”
But Mccombe said staff were being flexible, working from home, offering phone and Zoom appointments.
Secret Spot Hot Tubs co-founder Keith Kolver said staff shortages due to sickness were playing havoc.
“It is just a real concoction of Covid19 and also the flu that has knocked people around.”
He said they were down between 30 and 40 per cent on staff and were taking no risks; if anyone felt sick they stayed home.
“For a small business, when we lose around half the staff it really puts the pressure on.”
The Rotorua business needed to hire more staff to not find itself in the same position in the future. It had already taken on two more casuals and one more permanent employee to ease the shortage.
Kolver and his brother Eric had needed to take on extra hours to cover shifts staff had called in sick for, with Eric racking up more than 100 hours in the last week and a bit.
They had even roped in family members to help out.
Velocity Valley general manager Debbie Guptill said they were also experiencing about a 30 to 40 per cent drop in staff available to work, and things had been really tough.
While most of the team of 12 had already had Covid, it was the flu and gastro going around that were hitting them now. “It’s almost hoping it happens now and not in the school holidays.”
It was putting huge stress on the team, she said, with staff having to cover multiple rides at one time.
Management had come in to help cover shifts, including managing director Simon Short when they were down a jet boat driver last weekend.
Good Eastern Taphouse co-owner
Prue Allan said they were “going gangbusters” with team members getting sick.
But she said they had learned to be tough over the last few years through the pandemic and they were working with what they had. “People should have learned by now to not mix and mingle [when sick].”
While they were short on staff now she said it was mostly down to not having international staff.
Restaurant Association of New Zealand chief executive Marisa Bidois said this year’s bugs and viruses, on top of Covid, were adding to staffing pressures for some businesses.
“This is a good reminder to business owners that self-care is especially important at this time.”
Tauranga Business Chamber chief executive Matt Cowley said the staff availability crisis had continued for well over a year, including more employee downtime for sickness, and a lack of applicants applying for job vacancies.
“Businesses are forced to limit operational outputs somehow, either by delaying delivery times, providing decreased service levels, or outright declining work and limiting opening times.”
Cowley said businesses were absorbing increasing costs at the same time customers were reining in their spending as rising mortgage rates and cost of living meant they had less discretionary money.
His advice for business owners was not to try and do it all on their own.
“Otherwise you will burn out and risk making mistakes.
“Have a great second in charge to share the load, focus on your core business, outsource what you can to minimise fixed costs, and seek honest feedback from trusted advisers who can help.”