21 August 2020
Changes to the Existing JobKeeper Rules (Jobkeeper 1.1)
Additional employees may be eligible for the subsidy due to changes to the existing JobKeeper rules.
Under the changes, a range of employees who were previously ineligible may become eligible under the new 1 July 2020 employment test including:
- Individuals (other than casuals) employed after 1 March but before 1 July 2020 who meet the age and residency requirements;
- Casuals who did not meet the definition of a long term casual employee by 1 March 2020 but have become long term casual employees by 1 July 2020; and
- Employees who did not qualify on 1 March 2020 due to their age or visa status but have become 16 or 17 and meet the independence and study conditions, turned 18, or obtained the necessary visa by 1 July 2020.
These changes apply to the fortnights commencing on or after Monday the 3rd August 2020.
Any additional employees MUST complete the required nomination notices by the 24th August 2020 to be eligible.
Should you want to discuss the changes and steps to be actioned please contact us.
Extension to the JobKeeper Payment (JobKeeper 2.1)
The Australian Government is extending JobKeeper payments to the 28th March 2021.
There will be changes to the payments rates and eligibility rules, and businesses will need to reassess their eligibility for the extended payment, but this is great news for businesses who are continuing to suffer from the impacts of Covid-19.
Although the details are yet to be finalised the proposed key changes will be from the 28th September 2020 and include the following:
- a two-tier payment rate will apply based on the worker’s average weekly work hours during a reference period;
- the current $1,500 per fortnight payment rate will be reduced on 28 September 2020 and reduced further on 4 January 2021;
- the decline in turnover will be retested on a quarterly basis; and
- the decline in turnover test will be based on actual GST turnover.
Further information can be found in the Treasury Fact Sheet - https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-07/Fact_sheet-JobKeeper_Payment_extension.pdf
Should you have any queries or wish to discuss the eligibility rules in detail please contact our office.