Fletcher Building says it has not misled workers into signing away rights in order to receive the Government's wage subsidy, which aims to keep people employed during the coronavirus lockdown.

First Union said on Tuesday that Fletcher Building was trying to reduce the employment conditions of its workers, and was redistributing funds from the company into a "welfare pool" for its lower-paid workers while refusing to top up their salaries beyond an "arbitrary cap of their own invention".

Jared Abbott, the union's secretary for transport, logistics and manufacturing, said Fletcher Building was telling some staff that the company could not receive a wage subsidy for employees who did not voluntarily sign up to a pay bridging programme, so they might go unpaid or be asked to discuss redundancy.

The country's largest construction company proposed a 12-week pay plan, starting this week, where non-working staff would receive 65 per cent of their salaries until April 22. 

After the four-week lockdown their salaries would be slashed by 50 per cent for the next month, and by 70 per cent the following month.

Originally, senior staff including chief executive Ross Taylor were to take a 15 per cent cut, but that was increased to a 30 per cent cut after staff said they were bearing the brunt of the financial impacts of Covid-19.

Taylor said on Monday that of its 9000 employees, 8600 members had taken up the pay proposal. He also said the company's employee welfare fund had "greater capacity to support financial hardship" for those who "need it the most".

Abbott said Fletcher Building was being "disingenuous" about the pay bridging plan.

"The employer is required to notify the Ministry of Social Development that a worker will be receiving the wage subsidy, but they do not have to agree to unilateral changes to their employment conditions by their boss in order to receive emergency help from the Government."

He said the pay bridging programme would apply even if New Zealand left lockdown after four weeks as scheduled, meaning workers could still have another eight weeks left on as little as 30 per cent of their salaries.

Fletcher Building said in a statement that the consultation process had been "compressed", but employees were fully informed of the details of the pay programme.

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"We laid out a 12 week programme in line with the Government Wage Subsidy to provide our people certainty to allow them to plan ahead. As we work through the lockdown period and restart process, as we are able to bring our people safely back to work, they will return to their normal hours and pay even if it is with the 12 week period."

Options for the 5 per cent of employees who had not agreed to the pay programme including being paid the government subsidy for the period, or using annual or long service leave.

"If redundancy is a preference for anyone in this group, then that is an option we are open to discussing and it would be paid on their contracted entitlements."

Fletcher Building said it was passing on the full government wage subsidy to employees.

"No one will fall below the Government wage subsidy amounts during this period unless they already earn less than this amount. The subsidy amounts are $585.80 (gross) for anyone working more than 20 hours per week, and $350.00 (gross) for anyone working fewer than 20 hours per week.

"If an employee's normal pay is less than these wage subsidy amounts they will continue to receive their normal pay over the 12-week subsidy period."

Abbott also criticised the company's use of its employee welfare fund (EWF).

"Apparently they are running their own 'welfare fund' during the crisis that they will pay into - potentially from the wage subsidy funds directly - and then allocate emergency hardship funds to workers who have suffered a substantial reduction in income and are struggling to get by."

Fletcher Building said the fund was a private trust, independent of Fletcher Building, and grants were at the discretion of trustees to help employees and their families in cases of serious medical event or financial hardship.

"Fletcher Building has put additional funds into the Fletcher Building Employee Welfare Fund for support to be provided to those of our people who need it.

"No government subsidy money is going into the EWF."