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JOBKEEPER - more employees included from the 1st of July 2020

Another Friday night and another set of updates to the JOBKEEPER scheme.

I swear the government think we have nothing better to do with our weekends and love sneaking through new legislation late on Friday nights. Which, in current lockdown, they’re probably not wrong. But when it means more people will have financial security during these uncertain times, I don’t mind using my weekends to get my head around the changes so I can my small business clients and their staff.

WHAT’S CHANGED?

The changes announced on the 14th of August relate to employers who are currently part of the JobKeeper scheme. The other announced changes to extend JobKeeper beyond September 2020 aren’t legislated yet. The legislation changes on Friday night are just to capture new employee eligibility and I’ve summaried theme for you.

  • From 3 August, the eligible employee test has been extended to include individuals who were employed on 1 July 2020 and are not currently nominated for JobKeeper by another entity, see Eligible employees.

  • For the fortnights commencing on 3 and 17 August 2020 only, employers have until 31 August 2020 to meet the wage condition for all new eligible employees included in the JobKeeper scheme under the 1 July eligibility test.

  • On 21 July, the government announced proposed changes to JobKeeper including an extension through to 28 March 2021. These changes do not impact JobKeeper payments until after 28 September 2020.

  • You can still enrol for the JobKeeper Payment until the program closes if your circumstances have changed, for example, Victorian businesses closed due to restrictions.

  • The employee nomination form has been updated. All newly eligible employees need to complete this form.

ATO website link

NEXT STEPS

The good news is we have time to put these changes into place. We have until the 31st of August to make sure all newly eligible employees are paid at least $1,500 per fortnight from the fortnight starting the 3rd of August 2020.

If Alluvia Financial manages your payroll or JobKeeper program, there’s nothing for you to do.

We will retest your employees and will be in touch with any new eligible employees and any changes you need to make in payroll before the 31st of August. This process will start from Monday the 17th of August 2020.

If you are managing your payroll and JobKeeper program independently, we recommend these steps:

  1. Run your Employee Remuneration report in Xero and identify any full time or part time employees who started on or before the 1st of July 2020

  2. Identify any Casual employees who started between the 2nd March and the 1st of July 2019 and are still currently employed by you (see more on long-term casual employees)

  3. Send the JobKeeper Nomination form to these newly eligible employees to sign

  4. Enrol these newly eligible employees in Xero, starting fortnight 10

  5. Make sure these new employees are paid at least $1,500 per fortnight from fortnight 10 (starting the 3rd of August) - you have until the 31st of August to top up

Too much? Remember we’re always here to help, please reach out to us via email at hello@alluviafinancial.com.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and stay safe.

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Jo