On the 14th August 2020, the Federal Government passed legislation to enact amendments to the Jobkeeper rules to allow businesses who are eligible to participate in the Jobkeeper scheme to make claims for new employees who meet the employee eligibility conditions on 1 July 2020  (from 1 March 2020).

You may be able to obtain the Jobkeeper for additional employees who meet the new eligibility conditions on 1 July 2020.

This could apply if you:

• Hired new permanent staff or re-employed former employees between 2 March 2020 and 1 July 2020; or

• Casuals who became long term as at 1 July 2020; or

• Employees who turned 18 years old between 2 March 2020 and 1 July 2020; or

• Employees who are 16 or 17 years old and are independent and not engaged in the full-time study; and

• The new eligible employees are Australian citizens or permanent residents or protected special category visa holders or Subclass 444 Visa holders.

Key Dates

The following key dates apply:

• The new changes will apply for the Jobkeeper fortnights beginning on or after 3 August 2020;

• Employees who meet the new eligibility requirements must be provided with a Jobkeeper nomination form by 21st August 2020;

• For fortnights commencing on 3 August 2020 and 17 August 2020 you will have until 31 August 2020 to meet the wage condition for all new employees included in the Jobkeeper scheme under the 1 July eligibility test (the wage condition requires you to pay $1,500 per fortnight to eligible employees by the due dates provided by the ATO);

• New Employer Jobkkeeper scheme entrants – to claim Jobkeeper for the August 2020 Jobkeeper fortnights, including for newly eligible employees under the 1 July 2020 eligibility test, you must enroll for Jobkeeper by 31 August 2020.

Note that employees who were eligible to participate in the Jobkeeper scheme on 1 March 2020 do not need to retest and are not affected by these changes.
The ATO will need to be notified of the newly eligible employees. The ATO has yet to release the date and forms to do this.
Further, these enacted changes relate to the change in the reference date for determining certain employee eligibility conditions from 1 March 2020 to 1 July 2020. Separate amendments will soon be released to detail the Jobkeeper 2.0 extension and two tiers of payments beyond 27 September 2020.

 

Please contact us to find out more. The team at EMspire Advisory are experienced accountants, bookkeepers, and tax agents in Sydney and would like to help you create, grow and succeed in business.

Please note that this information is not specific and is general in nature and cannot be relied upon as advice. Please contact us for specific advice for you and your circumstances. 

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