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On 21 July 2020, the Prime Minister and Treasurer announced that the fortnight JobKeeper payments will be extended as “JobKeeper 2.0” after the initial period which was due to end on 27 September 2020.

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However, to remain in the scheme, there will be a requirement to reapply the eligibility test and demonstrate the required reduction in turnover as follows,

 

• 30 % for businesses with turnovers of $1 billion or less

• 50 % for businesses with turnovers of more than $1 billion

• 15 % for ACNC-registered charities.

 

The above will need to be demonstrated using the actual GST turnover for the relevant periods and not the projected turnover.

 

Furthermore, on 07 August 2020, based on the circumstances now faced in Melbourne from the stage 4 restrictions, the Treasurer proposed additional changes to both the current JobKeeper 1.0 and proposed JobKeeper 2.0 program. 

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|  Changes to the relevant date of employment for eligible employees  

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A change was also proposed on 07 August 2020 for the criteria around eligible employees with those hired as of 1 July 2020 to be potentially eligible for JobKeeper commencing from the fortnight beginning 03 August 2020 (JobKeeper fortnight #10).

 

This could lead to several scenarios where new eligible employees are now covered under the JobKeeper program from 03 August 2020 including,

 

1. new full time and part time employees who commenced between 01 March ~ 01 July 2020

2. regular and systematic casuals who are now employed for over 12 months as of 01 July 2020

3. employees who have turned 18 years old as of 1 July 2020

4. employees who have turned 16 years old as of 1 July 2020 and is independent or not in full time study

5. employees who now meet the visa eligibility conditions as of 1 July 2020

6. employees who can now be nominated by a new employer if their employment or business participation had ceased with the first entity before 1 July (however, can only still be nominated by one employer at a time)

 

The eligibility of existing employees and business participants already in the JobKeeper program are to remain on the 1 March 2020 reference date and retesting their eligibility will not be required.

 

These changes were detailed on the Treasury’s fact sheet (in a one sentence statement) on 07 August 2020 but the technical guidance and the relevant nomination forms were only updated by the ATO on 14 August 2020. Therefore, employers have until 31 August 2020 to pay any TOPUP amounts to meet the minimum wage conditions for new eligible employees (under the 1 July eligibility test) applicable for the following periods,

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• JobKeeper Fortnight #10 – commencing on 3 August, and

• JobKeeper Fortnight #11 – commencing 17 August 2020

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Also, to meet the “one in, all in” test, all employees impacted by these changes as at 1 July 2020 (who were not already eligible employees for any JobKeeper fortnight that ended 2 August 2020) must be provided with the new JobKeeper employee nomination form.

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|  JobKeeper 2.0  

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JobKeeper 2.0 has been proposed to cover the following periods,

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From 29 September 2020 to 3 January 2021,

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• Businesses will be required to demonstrate during October 2020, an actual decline in turnover for the July ~ September quarter to qualify for the extension (requirement for April ~ June quarter removed).

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• Employees who worked more than 20 hours a week during the month of February 2020 (or June 2020 – if using the 01 July eligibility test) will receive $1,200 per fortnight

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• Employees who worked less than 20 hours a week during the month of February 2020 (or June 2020 - if using the 01 July   eligibility test) will receive $750 per fortnight

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From 4 January 2021 to 28 March 2021,

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• Businesses will be required to demonstrate during January 2021, an actual decline in turnover for the October ~ December quarters to qualify for the extension (requirement for the April ~ June and July ~ September quarters removed).

 

• Employees who worked more than 20 hours a week during the month of February 2020 (or June 2020 - if using the 01 July eligibility test) will receive $1,000 per fortnight

 

• Employees who worked less than 20 hours a week during the month of February 2020 (or June 2020 - if using the 01 July     eligibility test) will receive $650 per fortnight

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|  Eligibility confirmation for JobKeeper 2.0  

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After it is legislated, we would expect further announcements in relation to the flexibility of how the 20 hours working week will be applied to eligible employees, sole traders and other business participants.

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Also, the initial eligibility criteria as follows remain the same,

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• It continues to remain open to new recipients, provided they meet the existing eligibility requirements and the additional turnover tests during the extension period

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• Eligible employees had to be on March 1, 2020 or July 1, 2020,

  • be a full-time or part-time employee

  • a long-term casual employee (employed on a regular and systematic basis for at least 12 months) and not a permanent employee of any other employer

  • Aged 18 years or older (conditions apply for 16 & 17 year olds)

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• Meet the visa conditions on March 1, 2020 or July 1, 2020

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• Eligible employees did NOT receive any of these payments:

  • Paid parental leave​

  • Payment from worker compensation law for your incapacity to work

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|  JobKeeper (initial scheme)  

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The government summarised the initial JobKeeper scheme by explaining that,

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• Currently about 960,000 businesses are enrolled in JobKeeper and 3.5 million workers are covered

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• About one in four workers are earning approximately $550 more than what they would have normally received as a wage

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The government now expects the total cost of the JobKeeper program to be $101 billion with the changes announced on 07 August costing an additional $15.6 billion, of which round $13 billion would be provided to businesses in Victoria.

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Disclaimer: 

Information based on facts we have summarised to the above updated date. We have not considered your personal circumstances and should you wish to consider it, please seek professional advice.