An archived July 2020 summary of the changes the Government announced to the JobKeeper program. These measures had not yet been legislated at the time of writing.
Key points
JobKeeper was extended to 28 March 2021 and split into two phases: Phase One (28 September 2020 to 3 January 2021) and Phase Two (4 January 2021 to 28 March 2021). Payments decreased and were split into two tiers. Phase One: $1,200 per fortnight, and $750 for employees or sole traders working less than 20 hours a week. Phase Two: $1,000 per fortnight, and $650 for those working less than 20 hours a week.
Eligibility
New turnover tests applied for businesses wishing to remain on JobKeeper past September 2020 – a 30% reduction for businesses turning over $1 billion or less, 50% for larger businesses, and 15% for ACNC-registered charities. Businesses had to demonstrate an ongoing decline using actual (not projected) GST turnover: for Phase One, decline across the June and September quarters; for Phase Two, across the June, September and December quarters.
Working out the payment rate
The rate claimed for each employee depended on the hours they worked in the reference period before 1 March 2020 – $1,200 (Phase One) for those averaging 20 or more hours a week, and $750 for those averaging less. Employees not employed at 1 March 2020 were not eligible. Treasury’s information sheet provided detailed worked examples. We kept clients up to date as more information was released.