Jobkeeper latest
- Clinton Peake Proadvice
- Aug 7, 2020
- 2 min read
There is no doubt policy makers are scrambling to keep up with the impacts of the Coronavirus particularly in Metropolitan Melbourne now under stage 4 restrictions. The Jobkeeper program is now generally understood by employers having been a lifeline in keeping staff ready to reignite business when things open up. Losing employees has been acknowledged to be disastrous to the restart process.
Like any policy made in haste, there were areas of underlap and overlap in who qualified and who didn't. Some received a pay rise through disaster, others missed out completely due to their background or visa status. It is desperately difficult to be fair and think of every situation.
Attempts to wind back the program and have business drop off as they recover has been stymied by the increase in Covid cases and outlook getting worse rather than better. The original program required employees to be employed at the date of announcement being 12 March. Those that were employed thereafter were out of luck in receiving payments. As of today, the reference date for eligibility has been eased, broadening the net of who will qualify for the Jobkeeper Payment extension. Employees employed in the June quarter will now become eligible in welcome news to those who started to recover and are now suffering renewed hiccups.
The upshot is that businesses and not for profits need to reassess at the end of the September period their eligibility based on their actual turnover. The reference date for assessing which employees are eligible for Jobkeeper is 1 July 2020. The hours worked in the two fortnights prior to 1 March 2020 and the two fortnights prior to 1 July 2020 will determine which of the two tiers of payment that will be received. The threshold is 20 hours or more to receive the higher $1,200 payment. Less than 20 hours will receive $750 per fortnight from 28 September.
Being a month to month proposition, the current rules step this payment down further from 4 January 2021 with the program expected to cease on 28 March 2021 but watch this space as anything beyond 6 weeks is a guess. The following fact sheet has the treasury data in readable form. Stay safe and wear your mask!
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