Important changes to JobKeeper from September 2020

On 21 July 2020 the Australian Government announced that JobKeeper will be modified and extended through to 28 March 2021. These changes will have a huge impact on employees in businesses across the country and it is vital that you are across these changes to ensure that your employer does not misinterpret the changes.

An important thing to note is that any eligible employee can enrol for the JobKeeper payment at any time until the program closes if your circumstances have changed.

 

Two stages of JobKeeper extension

The first important difference is that the extension to the JobKeeper scheme is divided into two three-month periods:

• 28 September 2020 – 3 January 2021;
• 4 January 2021 – 28 March 2021.

Each period will bring with it a reduction to the JobKeeper amount and a re-testing of business eligibility based on their decline in turnover.

From 28 September 2020, there will be two tiers of JobKeeper payment based on whether an employee worked an average of 20 hours or more per week between 1 February and 29 February 2020, as follows:

	From 28 Sep 2020	From 4 Jan 2021
Employees who worked an average of 20 hours or more per week in February 2020	$1,200 per fortnight	$750 per fortnight
All other employees	$1,000 per fortnight	$650 per fortnight

 

It is important to remember that employee eligibility criteria has not changed. If you are currently eligible for JobKeeper, you will remain eligible to receive JobKeeper payments.

The above summary is based on the best information available to the Marrickville Legal Centre as at the date of publication, and may be subject to change as legislative amendments are made to give effect to these announced changed.