There have been additional changes to the JobKeeper 2.0 that was announced on the 21st July.
The changes are all to do with the changes to eligibility.
In order to continue to be eligible for JobKeeper from October to December you will need to re-qualify, that is you will need to pass again the decline in turnover test. You will need to show your business income for July to September is down 30% compared for the July – September last year. The previous announcement was that there would need to be a decline in both the April to June AND July to September. With this update we only need to compare the September Quarter.
Looking forward to January and March 2021 you will need to prove a 30% decline in turnover in October to December 2020 compared to the December 2019 Quarter.
There has been a change to Eligible Employees.
Those who were employed as at the 1st July (previously this was 1st March) are now eligible. If you’ve employed someone permanently after March 1st they will now qualify or if they are now a long term casual employee from the 1st of July. From the 3rd of August, qualified employees will need to receive the JobKeeper wage subsidy. You must send these employees the JobKeeper nomination forms again as now they will be eligible.
Change and Reduction in Rates.
The rate will reduce to $1,200 per fortnight from 28th September to 3rd January. This applies to employees that worked more than an average of 20 hours per week. For employees that worked less than this, the rate is $750 per fortnight.
The rate will then reduce to $1,000 per fortnight for employees that worked more than an average of 20 hours per week and continue to be eligible between January and March. For employees that worked less than this, the rate will be $650 per fortnight.
Employers will have to look at the average hours worked for employees in the February or June Payroll to determine the rate they will be paid. This is because the 20 hours per week is based on average hours worked from the 4 weeks of pay either prior to 1st March 2020 or prior to 1st July 2020. Do not base the 20 hours on what the employee is currently working, and whether a full or reduced rate is received will be determined by the period that has a higher number of hours.
What to action now as an employer.
1. Review whether any of your employees are now qualified for Jobkeeper from 3rd of August, FN10.
● 31st of August is the deadline for when back pay needs to be done by.
2. Make sure employees that are now qualified are provided the JobKeeper nomination forms again.
● They must then fill these out and return them.
3. Through payroll reporting, newly qualified employees should be added as receiving JobKeeper.
We are working through those now for those clients that have requested us to. Please contact us if you would like us to help you with any of the above. We will be providing updates regarding this as they come, as things can still change.
https://www.ato.gov.au/General/JobKeeper-Payment/In-detail/JobKeeper—timeline-of-content-updates/
https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-08/Fact_sheet-JobKeeper_Payment_extension_1.pdf