Nothing More Valuable Than Reward

Michael from Trentham

Giving nurses and other hospital staff a one-off bonus payment of $10 (before tax) for all the hard slog, long hours, stress and extra work they put in so far during the Omicron part of the Covid pandemic seems less than generous. In fact I would say it is a sick joke for staff associated with the hospitals in the Wellington region.

Better than handing out a pen someone said. I don't know about that.

But hey, not far behind is the allowances some Government department staff are getting whenever they are forced/compelled to, or volunteer to, work from home. Added to their pay packet is 78 cents per day per stay at home.

So staying at home means use of power (and in winter add to this heating), food including cups of coffee and tea, wear and tear of own office type equipment including computer and printer. Savings are in the form of travel but if one buys a monthly train ticket for instance, there is little in the way of travel savings.

Who devised the princely sum of 78 cents a day allowance as commendably fair is anybody's guess. But don't blame it this time on Australia.