The Federal government has recently legislated the extension of the JobKeeper payment scheme beyond the former end date of the current scheme of 27 September 2020.
It is now important that business owners reassess the requirements for accessing the JobKeeper scheme in light of the new regulations.
This applies regardless of whether you previously qualified for JobKeeper payments given that:
- Businesses that previously qualified for the JobKeeper scheme must now reassess their eligibility for the extension period; and
- Businesses that may not have previously qualified for the scheme now have an opportunity to qualify for the remainder of the scheme.
Eligibility Criteria for the JobKeeper extension
To qualify for the extension, businesses must satisfy an actual decline in turnover test.
To qualify for the first extension, from 28 September 2020 to 3 January 2021, businesses must satisfy a decline in actual GST turnover of 30% for the quarter ending 30 September 2020, relative to its September 2019 quarter.
To qualify for the second extension, from 4 January 2021 to 28 March 2021, businesses must satisfy a decline in actual GST turnover of 30% for the quarter ending 31 December 2020, relative to its December 2019 quarter.
Payment Rates
From the 28th of September, the payment rate will be split into a tier 1 rate and a tier 2 rate. These rates are a reduction in the original Jobkeeper payment, and will reduce further for the second extension.
The new payment rates are as follows:
|
|
Tier 1 |
Tier 2 |
|
Extension 1 (from 28 September 2020 to 3 January 2021) |
$1,200 Per fortnight |
$750 Per fortnight |
|
Extension 2 (from 4 January 2021 to 28 March 2021) |
$1,000 Per fortnight |
$650 Per fortnight |
Employees and eligible business participants will fall into either tier 1 or tier 2 based on their total working hours in the applicable reference period.
Generally, employees will fall into tier 1 if they were paid for more than 80 hours in the 28 day period ending at the end of the most recent pay cycle for the employee that ended before 1 March 2020 or before 1 July 2020.
Eligible business participants will be entitled to the tier 1 rate if they were actively engaged in the business for more than 80 hours for the month of February 2020.