STIMULUS 3 – JOBKEEPER PAYMENT

On 30 March 2020 the Federal Government announced the $130billion JobKeeper Payment.

Aim: to allow employers to maintain the employee/employer relationship throughout the Corona Virus crisis.

Applies to: business and the self-employed.

Package: to provide a fortnightly payment of $1,500 per employee for up to 6 months.

Eligibility:

Employers including Not For Profits will be eligible for the subsidy if:

• Where the business has a turnover of less than $1billion – Turnover has been reduced by over 30% as compared to comparative trading figures from 1 year ago (of at least a month);
• Where the business has a turnover of $1billion or more – Turnover has been reduced by over 50% as compared to comparative trading figures from 1 year ago (of at least a month);

Employers must ELECT to participate in the scheme: Apply to ATO providing supporting documentation to substantiate the reduction in turnover, and confirming the number of employees. Via ATO website

Eligible employers will receive a $1,500 fortnightly payment for each eligible employee that was on their books at 1 March 2020 and continues to be employed by that employer.

Eligible employees are:

Full time, part time, long-term casuals and stood-down employees.

• Long term casuals are those casuals who have been employed by the employer on a regular basis for at least the previous 12 months as at 1 March 2020.
• Eligible employees must be at least 16 years of age, an Australian Citizen, the holder of a permanent visa, a Protected Special Category Visa Holder, a non-protected Special Category Visa Holder who has been residing continually in Australia for 10 years or more, or a Special Category (Subclass 444) Visa Holder.
• Eligible employers who have stood down their employees before the commencement of this scheme will be able to participate. Employees that are re-engaged by a business that was their employer on 1 March 2020 will also be eligible. Stood down employees will need to cancel any support they are receiving through Services Australia like the JobSeeker Payment.
• Where employees have multiple employers, only one employer will receive the payment.

Self-employed individuals: will be eligible to receive the JobKeeper Payment where they have suffered or expect to suffer a 30 per cent decline in turnover relative to a comparable period a year ago (of at least a month).

Payment process: 

Eligible employers will receive $1,500 per fortnight to pass on to their employees.

• If employees normally receive more than $1,500 (gross) per fortnight, they will continue to receive their regular income under workplace arrangements. $1,500 will assist the employer with this;
• If an employee ordinarily receives less than $1,500 in income per fortnight before tax, their employer must pay their employee, at a minimum, $1,500 per fortnight, before tax. It is up to the employer if they would like to pay super on additional wages paid in this scenario;
• Payments will be made to the employer monthly in arrears by the ATO;
• Subsidy will be backdated to 30 March 2020, payment will begin in May 2020;
• Register from 30 March 2020 on ATO website;
• In most cases the ATO will use Single Touch Payroll information to gain employee details.