On July 21, the Australian Government announced an extension to the Existing JobKeeper Payment. This extension will apply in two separate phases and is targeted at those businesses that have been significantly impacted by the Coronavirus over an extended period.
The current JobKeeper arrangements continue unchanged until September 27.
It is important that you reassess your eligibility according to the new conditions.
The next phase of JobKeeper will run from September 28, 2020 to January 3, 2021 and all businesses will be required to reassess their eligibility. To be eligible for this payment you must have a 30% reduction in your GST turnover for the September 2020 quarter as compared to 2019.
The payment rate for this second phase is $1200 per fortnight for fulltime staff (more than 20 hours per week) and $750 per fortnight for part time staff (less than 20 hours per week).
The third phase of JobKeeper will run from January 4, 2021 to March 31, 2021 and once again all businesses will be required to reassess their eligibility. To be eligible your turnover reduction must be 30% for the December 2020 quarter.
The payment rate for this third phase is $1000 per fortnight for fulltime staff (more than 20 hours per week) and $650 per fortnight for part time staff (less than 20 hours per week).
A couple of other factors to note are:
- Turnover is your GST turnover as declared on your BAS. (regardless of whether the turnover is GST free or not)
- If you are not registered for GST it is the turnover that would have been included on your BAS if you were registered for GST.
- There are alternative tests for those employers or self-employed persons for whom it is not appropriate to compare turnover to the equivalent period in the prior year.
- For an employee to be eligible they must have been employed by you on 1 March 2020 and remained in your employ for the entire period.
- The JobKeeper subsidy will continue to be paid to employers in arrears. You cannot claim it unless you have ALREADY paid it to your employees.
- Employees will need to re-sign the JobKeeper declaration confirming that they continue to fulfill the eligibility criteria.
- Employees are not eligible if they re employed by more than one employer.