JobKeeper to be extended with new rules

The Federal Government has now legislated some important changes to the JobKeeper Scheme.

Employee Eligibility

From the fortnight starting 3 August 2020, eligible employees now include those who were employed at 1 July 2020 and meet the below criteria:

are current employees, including employees who have been stood down or re-hired
as at 1 July 2020, were either:
- employed on a full time or part time basis, or
- employed on a regular and systematic casual basis for at least 12 months prior to 1 July 2020, and not a permanent employee of any other employer
were at least 16 years of age at 1 July 2020, unless they are a full-time student who is not financially independent in which case they must have been at least 18 years of age at 1 July 2020
have completed the ATO’s JobKeeper Employee Nomination Notice
citizen, the holder of a permanent visa, or a Special Category (Subclass 444) Visa Holder at 1 July 2020
In addition to the above requirements, there are fortnightly eligibility criteria that an employee must meet. These require that the employee must not have received any of the following during form, agreeing to receive JobKeeper payments from you and confirming they are not receiving a JobKeeper payment from another employer
were a resident for Australian tax purposes on 1 July 2020 (see Factsheet for further information).

What do you need to do?

Below is a summary of next steps for you to consider:

Identify new eligible employees engaged at 1 July 2020
Send new eligible employees the JobKeeper Employee Nomination Notice by 21 August 2020 so they can agree to be nominated
If the employee agrees to be nominated, ensure you pay them the minimum JobKeeper payment for the 3 August and 17 August JobKeeper fortnights by 31 August 2020.

Need more information?