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JobKeeper 1 will continue until 27th September 2020.

They have modified the assessment of staff eligibility for the remaining August and September months:

  1. Employees eligibility for JobKeeper Payments can now be assessed from 1stJuly 2020, rather than 1st March 2020.
  2. Employees can still only be nominated by 1 employer at a time BUT now you can nominate:
  • Full-time and part time employees hired between 1stMarch and 1st July 2020
  • Long-term casuals employed from 1stMarch to 1st July 2019
  1. Employers have until 31stAugust to enrol employees who meet the new wage conditions under the 1st Newly eligible staff MUST complete an authority declaration and return it to you.
  2. Otherwise the same initial tests for eligibility.
  3. Even if your circumstances have improved you remain eligible to claim for pay periods prior to 28th September 2020.

JobKeeper 2 is the six-month extension from 28th September to 28 March 2021.

Payment rates will be:

1. From 28 September 2020 to 3 January 2021:

  • 1,200 per fortnight for staff who worked 20+hrs per week in February 2020
  • $750 per fortnight for staff who work less than 20 hrs per week in February 2020

2. From 4 January 2021 to 28 March 2021:

  • $1,000 per fortnight for staff who worked 20+hrs per week in February 2020
  • $650 per fortnight for staff who worked less than 20 hrs per week in February 2020

Eligibility is dependent on:

  1. a 30% decline in turnover for small business and 15% for charities, compared to the same quarter last year, BUT will be based on ACTUAL figures, no forecasting allowed.
  • Eligibility for the period 28 September 2020 to 3 January 2021, will be determined by comparing Actual Turnover in Q1 Jul-Sep 20, to Actual Turnover in Q1 Jul-Sep 19;
  • Eligibility for the period 4 January 2021 to 28 March 2021, will be determined by comparing Actual Turnover in Q2 Oct-Dec 20, to Actual Turnover in Q1 Oct-Dec19;

New recipients can be paid provided they meet the existing eligibility requirements and the additional turnover tests during the extension period.

The “all in” rule still applies. If you have any employees who, under the new criteria, are eligible for JobKeeper, they must be given the opportunity to nominate for JobKeeper payments.

Payment rate claimed must be nominated by the business for each of their eligible employees (or business participants).

Top up  payments will continue to be required to made to employees so they are paid equal to, or greater than the JobKeeper Payment (before tax), “referred to as the wage condition”.

For more information you can review the ATO website   https://www.ato.gov.au/general/jobkeeper-payment/

Please call if you would like to discuss.

General Advice warning: the information in this article is general in nature, it is not advice specific to your needs. If you want to act upon the information in this article then you should seek advice from a qualified professional. VJC WM accepts no liability to any party for acting from this information unless they have sought advice in a formal engagement with VJC WM for this purpose.