The purpose of this Fact Sheet is to enable you to make a quick assessment of your eligibility for the Government’s JobKeeper Payment Scheme. It is not a comprehensive guide as the rules are quite complex. If, after you have examined the information in this Fact Sheet and believe that you may be eligible, please contact us immediately so we may assist you further.
The JobKeeper Payment scheme was announced on 30 March 2020 by the Prime Minister and the Treasurer. The purpose of the scheme is to keep people employed even though the business they work for has suffered a downturn including a ‘hibernation’ or close down for a temporary period.
Businesses impacted by the Coronavirus will be able to access a wage subsidy from the Government to assist in continuing to pay their employees. Eligible employers will be able to claim a fortnightly payment of $1,500 per eligible employee from 30 March 2020, for a maximum period of 6 months. The Scheme will run from Monday 30 March 2020 to Sunday 27 September 2020.
If you believe you are eligible from the 30 March, you need to act now!
Employers must elect to take part in the JobKeeper scheme. It is not mandatory for eligible employers to participate.
Is your business eligible for your employees?
An employer is entitled to the JobKeeper payment in respect of an individual (an employee) in relation to a fortnight if it meets seven conditions.
Decline in turnover test
The decline in turnover test Turnover for this purpose is calculated on the same basis as it is for GST purposes. The decline in turnover test operates by comparing:
For example, you can compare either:
If an entity does not meet the decline in turnover test on 30 March 2020, but does so at a later time, the entity will become eligible for the JobKeeper payment from that later time. The JobKeeper payment is not backdated to 30 March 2020.
| Aggregated Turnover was > $1 Billion | 50% |
| Aggregated Turnover was <$1 Billion | 30% |
The basic test may not accurately reflect the downturn in activity that your business has suffered. The Rules provide the Commissioner with discretion to set out an alternative test, where the Commissioner is satisfied that there is not an appropriate relevant comparison period in 2019. For example, a business that started on 1 January 2020.
A JobKeeper fortnight is defined as:
You must notify the Commissioner that you elect to participate in the JobKeeper scheme
For the first or second JobKeeper fortnight (i.e. fortnights ending 12 and 26 April 2020) you must notify by 26 April 2020).
For later or subsequent fortnights, you must notify by the end of the fortnight.
Your Employees will be eligible employees for a fortnight where:
You can claim JobKeeper for employees that were stood down after 1 March 2020. Even if they remain stood down, the employer must nevertheless pay them a minimum of $1,500 per fortnight in order to remain eligible.
Where you let employees go after 1 March 2020 but subsequently re-hired them, you can claim JobKeeper in relation to these employees. This is the case even if the employer needs to immediately stand them down, so long as they are employed. The employees must have been employed by the same employer on 1 March 2020 and let go only after that date.
Employees who were not engaged by you on 1 March 2020 are not eligible.
Some employees are not eligible if they receive some Government assistance.
Your employees must give you a ‘nomination notice’ in the approved form. It needs to be returned to you by the end of April in order for you to claim JobKeeper for April.
You must advise your employees whether they have been nominated as an eligible employee, within seven days of notifying the Commissioner of the individual’s details.
You satisfy the wage condition in respect of an employee for a JobKeeper fortnight where their gross pay will exceed $1,500: Gross Pay includes;
Where an employee has previously been paid less than $1500 per fortnight, you will need to “top up” to ensure they receive a minimum of $1500 per fortnight.
The JobKeeper payment cannot be claimed for employees who were not paid the full amount of $1,500 for the fortnight. Further, the payment is a reimbursement and cannot be paid in advance.
Where your pay run period is usually longer than a fortnight, those payments can be allocated to one or more fortnights in a ‘reasonable manner’ for the purposes of the wage condition. For example, if your ordinary arrangement is to pay an employee every four weeks, it may be reasonable for the purposes of satisfying the wage condition if the employee is paid at least $3,000 for every four-week period.
The Commissioner has discretion to treat a particular event as having happened in a different fortnight(s) to the extent that it is reasonable to do so in his opinion.
You are required to give information about the entitlement for the fortnight, including details of the individual, to the Commissioner, in the approved form.
An employer is not entitled to the JobKeeper payment if they notify the Commissioner that they no longer wish to participate in the JobKeeper scheme. This notification must be made in the form approved by the Commissioner.
The Rules also allow a limited entitlement to the JobKeeper payment for certain individuals who are not employees of entities but who are actively engaged in the business carried on by a sole trader, partnership, trust or company (i.e. not passive partners, shareholders and beneficiaries).
Sole trader The sole trader
Partnership A partner in the partnership
Trust An adult beneficiary of the trust
Company A shareholder in or a director of the company
In relation to a fortnight, the individual must be ‘actively engaged’ in the business carried on by the entity. They cannot also be an employee of the entity at any time during the fortnight.
The individual must have met the following conditions on 1 March 2020:
The individual must give their entity a ‘nomination notice’ in the approved form, and at the time of the nomination, they cannot be an employee (other than a casual employee) of another entity.
The entity must satisfy the general eligibility requirements for employers outlined above, and the individual is an ‘eligible business participant’ and not an employee. The entity must notify an individual in writing within seven days of giving the individual’s information to the Commissioner for the fortnight (except for sole traders).
There can only be one eligible business participant nominated for each entity.
An entity is not entitled to a JobKeeper payment for an eligible business participant unless the entity had an ABN on 12 March 2020 (or a later time allowed by the Commissioner) — i.e. an entity that is recently created to access the JobKeeper payment will not qualify.
In addition, the entity must be able to demonstrate that it was in business and has notified the Commissioner by either:
Contact the office if you need some assistance or know a busniess who needs help navigating the JKP! 0400052398/0266580309 or lookup https://www.ato.gov.au/general/jobkeeper-payment/In-detail/JobKeeper-guide