Changes to JobKeeper

Article by Denise Gallagher

Currently, JobKeeper payments are being paid to over 3.5 million employees in over 960,000 businesses across Australia.  It was due to expire on 27 September 2020 but will now be extended to 28 March 2021.

For those who wish to continue receiving payments on behalf of employees from September, businesses and not-for-profit organisations will have to re-assess their downturn in turnover for the June and September quarters to receive payments from 28 September 2020 to 3 January 2021 and again for each of the June, September and December quarters to receive payments from 3 January 2021 to 28 March 2021.

The required decline in turnover remains the same:

• 50% for those with an aggregated turnover of more than $1billion.
• 30% for those with an aggregated turnover of $1billion or less.
• 15% for Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission-registered charities (excluding schools and universities).

The current rate for JobKeeper will stay at $1,500 per employee until 27 September 2020 but from 28 September a tiered system will reduce payments for people who normally work less than 20 hours per week and the rate of JobKeeper will be tapered to reduce over time.

The new rates are:

• From 28 September 2020 to 3 January 2021: JobKeeper will be $1,200 a fortnight for people who normally work 20 hours or more a week; and $750 for other recipients.
• From 4 January 2021 to 28 March 2021 JobKeeper will be $1,000 a fortnight for people who normally work 20 hours or more a week; and $650 for other recipients.

The 20-hour test requires people to have been “working in the business or not-for-profit” or “actively engaged in the business” for 20 hours or more a week on average in the month of February 2020.

Employers will continue to be required to make payments to employees equal to, or greater than, the amount of the JobKeeper payment (before tax).

We’re running a free Zoom event to help people plan for the next stage of COVID-19, particularly covering the areas of:

-Fair Work – redundancy planning

-Retail tenancy negotiations – what happens post September?

-Debt recovery – what next after the Corporations Act temporary amendments expire?

The details are available at the link below.  Please come along if you’re interested and BYO drink of choice.  Please share this invite with anyone you think might be interested.

https://events.humanitix.com/planning-for-a-post-covid-business