Part time employees receiving the wage subsidy

Question

There is a confusion about the wage subsidy. Are employers required to pass the weekly subsidy to employees? Most our clients' employees are on much higher salaries than the $585 per week. For those clients, they have to top up their employees' pays. But for the part time employees, especially, they may work 10 hours a week at $20 per hour, their weekly pay = $200 which is less than the under 20 hours subsidy of $350. Do employers need to pay the part time staff $350, although the staff's normal part time job weekly pay is only $200?

Answer

There has been an updated release from the Finance Minister, clarifying the modifications originally announced on 27 March.  See examples below:

THE GOVERNMENT CONTINUES TO MONITOR THE MEASURES THAT THEY ARE TAKING IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19 AND THESE MAY BE CHANGED AT NO NOTICE, AS THEY SEE FIT. IT IS FAIR TO POINT OUT THAT WE ARE BUSINESS ADVISORS AND NOT LAWYERS.  OUR ANSWERS ARE BASED ON OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE SOMEWHAT LIMITED INFORMATION THAT HAS BEEN MADE AVAILABLE PUBLICLY AT THIS POINT.