HR Central

Jobkeeper extended until March 2021.

In July 2020, the Federal Government announced an extension of the Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Payments and Benefits), referred to as Jobkeeper and JobSeeker.  Jobkeeper was originally due to cease at the end of September, 2020 but will now continue until March 2021.

This should be seen as a relief for many businesses that are wanting to continue to operate, but have been damaged financially by the operational restrictions put in place in order to curb the virus.

However it is of importance to note that the Jobkeeper extension, i.e after September 2020, has different applications than the Jobkeeper scheme you may be currently working under.

So what does Jobkeeper post end September 2020,  look like?

Anybody wanting to apply for Jobkeeper will need to have been in business from 1 March 2020.  So if you have started in a business after that date you are not eligible.

Payments are calculated fortnightly on Jobkeeper.  To be able to claim you will need to meet the decline in turnover test.

Table 1

30 March 2020 – 27 September 2020

Eligibility

Based on projected GST Turnover down by percentage (see  table 1) in month or quarter

Payments

$1500 per fortnight per eligible employee

Then, in July, the Prime Minister and Federal Treasurer announced an extension to the end date (ie, a further two financial quarters), but with a scaling down period and changes to eligibility.

1.    28 Sep 2020 – 3 Jan 2021 (December Qtr)

Eligibility

Company: Actual GST Turnover for Sep 20 Qtr down by percentage above against 2019

Employee: The reference date for assessing which employees are eligible for the JobKeeper Payment is now 1 July 2020 with effect from 3 August 2020. The reference period for employees regarding their hours worked to determine their tier of payment will be the two fortnightly pay periods prior to 1 March 2020 or 1 July 2020. The period with the higher number of hours is to be used for employees who were eligible at 1 March 2020.

Payments

Amounts: $1200 (20+ hrs), $750 (<20hrs)

2.   4 Jan 2021 – 28 Mar 2021 (March Qtr)

Eligibility

Company: Actual GST Turnover for Dec 20 Qtr down by percentage above against 2019

Employee: as 1 above

Payments

Amounts: $1000 (20+ hrs), $650 (<20hrs)

In addition to the above information, HR Central can help you prepare letters and correspondence to your employees regarding:

• Standing down an employee for employers NOT accessing the jobkkeeper scheme
• Jobkeeper stand down direction to reduce hours or days of work
• Jobkeeper direction to change employees duties and/or work location
• Direction to take annual leave due to the coronavirus outbreak
• Jobkeeper notification of stand down letter
• Working from home checklist
• Redundancy
• Sending people home who are unwell
• Underperformance (what is tolerated during these conditions, and what is not)
• Anxiety and stress in your employees

We understand that these are stressful and confusing times for both business and individuals so please call us, no question is too silly or weird in 2020!