JobKeeper Update

The Federal Government has today provided an update on the future of the Jobkeeper program. Whilst no doubt the finer details will be made available over the coming weeks, the fundamental updates are as follows:

• The Jobkeeper program will be extended beyond the original September end date and will now run until the end of March 2021.
• The 30% turnover reduction test will need to be reapplied for both the December 2020 quarter and the March 2021 quarter. i.e. for the December quarter you will need to prove the 30% reduction in both the June 2020 and September 2020 quarters. For the March 2021 quarter, the 30% reduction will need to be met for the June, September and December 2020 quarters.
• In contrast to the current $1,500 per fortnight payment, there will be a two tiered payment system. This will be dependent on an employees’ hours worked in a week. If an employee works more than 20 hours per week they will be entitled to the higher rate.
• For the December quarter the payments will be $1,200 or $750; this will reduce to $1,000 or $650 for the March quarter.

This update is clearly designed to reduce the number of businesses who can claim Jobkeeper payments. There are currently 3.5 million workers covered under JobKeeper. Treasury expects the new eligibility rules to see the figure fall to just 1.4 million workers for the December 2020 quarter, before dropping to 1 million workers in the March 2021 quarter.

Scott Partners will continue to keep you informed as to any updates.