Journalists and other staff at NZME and Stuff have been urged to use up their annual leave as the companies deal with plummeting revenue during the Covid-19 crisis.
NZME chief executive Michael Boggs at the TUANZ 2019 Digital Media Convergence symposium. Photo: PHOTO / RNZ Colin Peacock
In an email this week, NZME chief executive Michael Boggs asked all staff to take 15 days of annual leave or consider a period of leave without pay.
Voluntary redundancies were also offered. Staff who wanted to take up that offer were asked to speak to their managers.
“As you should be aware, COVID-19 is having an impact on our revenues and it is imperative that we do all we can to get costs down,” the email reads.
Boggs notes that he has agreed to a 20% drop in salary during the crisis, and other members of his executive team are taking the 15 days of leave.
That will be cold comfort to some reporters. Boggs’ salary was reported to be around $865,000 in 2017.
Under the Holidays Act 2003, employers can only require workers to take 14 days of stored leave over and above their annual allotment.
But an NZME spokesman says the email to staff was a request, not an order. “It’s completely voluntary,” he says.
The spokesman says that NZME are also “looking closely” at the government’s $9.3 billion wage subsidy scheme, but wouldn’t confirm the company had applied for the subsidy.
Meanwhile, Stuff reporters have been instructed to use up any excess leave they have owing above the four weeks they get per annum.
The move, while less drastic than NZME’s, may still mean reporters have to use up their annual leave during a nationwide lockdown.
According to sources, Stuff chief executive Sinead Boucher avoided questions on whether redundancies are on the cards during a staff Q&A this week.
Meanwhile some overseas newspapers have already shuttered during the coronavirus crisis. All Newfoundland and Labrador’s papers have already closed, citing the pandemic.
In Sydney the newsroom of public broadcaster SBS has closed following an employee testing positive for COVID-19.
Many more may follow across the world.
If you haven’t already, now’s the time to pick up a newspaper subscription.
