The Federal Government has announced its intention to pass the JobKeeper payment program which is designed to support employees and businesses affected by COVID-19. This is a long awaited stimulus measure that assists employers in retaining their workforce.
In summary, the proposal is for a wage subsidy, dubbed the JobKeeper payment, to be made to employers of $1,500 per fortnight per employee to help businesses retain workers through this period.
Key points for employers
- To be eligible and register, employers need to make a declaration that their revenue / turnover has dropped by at least 30% as a result of the current restrictions / COVID19 impact (businesses with $1 billion turnover need to declare a 50% reduction in turnover).
- The subsidy is a flat payment of $1,500 per fortnight, per employee. Aimed to cover part time, full time, casual workers and sole traders who have been in their role for 12 months or more.
- Subsidies available for a period of 6 months from 30 March 2020.
- Applies to employees ‘on the books’ as at 1 March 2020 so there is an opportunity for staff that had been terminated or stood down in the past weeks to be reinstated and become eligible. NOTE: To be eligible however, employees cannot be getting other benefits, i.e Job seeker payments, etc.
- There is no superannuation guarantee contribution payable on this subsidy.
- The actual payments to employers will not be issued until 1 May 2020. Therefore, employers will need to make wage payments up to that date from their own cashflow and will then be reimbursed by this subsidy.
For more information - https://www.hlb.com.au/jobkeeper-payment-announced-by-federal-government/
Source: HLB Mann Judd
