OUR PLAN FOR JOBKEEPER 2.0
The A-Team Approach to JobKeeper 2.0
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg have announced JobKeeper 2.0. And while we don't have the full legislation yet, this is what we know now.
What's staying the same?
Nothing changes until the end of September.
If you are currently receiving JobKeeper, you will continue to receive it until September 28th
Employee eligibility does not change. Employees must have been employed as at 1st March 2020 to receive the JobKeeper payments
Payments will continue be made to employers in arrears
It continues to include Eligible Business Participants specifically including the self employed
What's changing?
Payments will drop from $1,500 to $1,200 a fortnight from the 28th of September for full time employees
Payments will drop to $750 per fortnight for employees who work less than 20 hours per week
From 4 January, the rate will again fall to $1,000 per fortnight, and $650 for people working less than 20 hours a week
We can no longer choose how we test the decline in turnover. It must be the same as your reporting method. This means if you report GST on a cash basis, you must test for your turnover decline on a cash basis. And vice versa if you report on an accruals basis
We no longer need to predict a decline in turnover. All eligibility will be tested on actual turnover decline
What we don't know yet?
There may be alternative tests in this version of JobKeeper. We will know more once the legislation drops
We don't yet know if the allowed changes to employment conditions such as reduced hours, changes to employee duties will continue post September 28th
What we have to do now
We must retest eligibility for the June 2020 quarter. If you have not seen a 30% decline in turnover in the June 2020 quarter compared to the June 2019 quarter, JobKeeper will end for your business from the 28th of September.
For 28 September to 3rd January:
For the employer to be eligible in this period they must have had an actual decline in turnover of 30% or more for both:
- the Quarter ended 30 June 2020 (compared to the quarter ended 30 June 2019) and
- the Quarter ended 30 September 2020 (compared to the quarter ended 30 September 2019)
What this means?
If you have seen a decline in turnover of 30% or greater in the June 2020 quarter, you MAY be eligible for JobKeeper post the 28th of September. We will need to test your decline again at the end of September and if you again see a 30% decline in the September quarter, then you will continue to receive JobKeeper payments until the end of December 2020.
For 4th January to 28 March 2021:
Employer must have ALSO had an actual decline in turnover of 30%
or more for Quarter ended 31 December 2020 (compared to quarter ended 31 December 2019)
What this means?
Turnover decline will be tested again at the end of December 2020, and if you again see a 30% decline in turnover, payments will continue until March 2021.
What we are working on now for you
We are putting our clients into three groups.
Group 1
currently receiving JobKeeper but did not see a decline of 30% in the June quarter, therefore JobKeeper will end on the 28th of September 2020.
Group 2
currently receiving JobKeeper and did see a decline of 30% in the June quarter. We will retest turnover decline at the end of September to determine if they will keep receiving JobKeeper post 28th of September 2020.
Group 3
Not yet eligible for JobKeeper. These businesses can still enter JobKeeper if they meet a decline in a single month between now and September. We will continue to test for decline in turnover monthly.
Our main focus now is helping those businesses who have not seen the decline in June 2020. The reality is a lot of businesses may have seen a 25% or even 28% drop, so these businesses are hurting and we need to support them and come up with ways to cement their cash flow position post September 2020.
If you would like some extra support to understand JobKeeper 2.0 for you business, book in with us here.