JobKeeper 2.1 Announcement
On 10 August the government announced further changes to the JobKeeper Payment to make it easier for employers to access JobKeeper, and allow them to include more of their employees into the scheme.
This newsletter includes a range of information for businesses and individuals, including:
Employee employment date changes
Turnover test changes
Personal/Carer's Leave accrual clarification
Employee employment date changes.
Previously, to be included in the JobKeeper program, an employee needed to be considered an 'eligible' employee as of the 1st March 2020. From the 3rd August, the employee eligibility date will now be the 1st of July 2020. This will allow more employees to access the program, and gain financial assistance.
What does this mean for businesses?
If you are already eligible and claiming JobKeeper, it will mean:
Full-time and Part-time employees employed before 1st July 2020 are now eligible.
Casual employees who are considered regular employees and who have worked for over 1 year as at 1st July, 2020, are now eligible.
Employees who have turned 18 yrs old between 1st March, 2020 and 1st July, 2020 are now also eligible.
Based on the criteria above, you should check if you have any additional employees who are now eligible, and provide them with the updated JobKeeper nomination form (when it becomes available) to sign and return. Once you receive it back from the employee, you will be required to notify the ATO that you wish to claim JobKeeper for them.
If you have not yet claimed JobKeeper you should:
Check with your accountant that your business is eligible.
Register for JobKeeper in your ATO Business Portal
Arrange for your employees to complete a JobKeeper Declaration form
Register the Employees for JobKeeper
Turnover test changes.
In July the Government announced an extension to the JobKeeper program by a further six months to March 2021. In the initial announcement, for an entity to remain eligible it was required to demonstrate an actual decline in turnover for multiple quarters. The Government has now amended the eligibility requirements so that businesses are eligible if they can demonstrate a reduction in turnover for the previous quarter.
If you require information as to whether your business is in fact eligible for JobKeeper, you should consult your Accountant who will be able to give you tailored advice, or contact the ATO.
Personal/carer's leave accrual clarification.
The full bench of the High Court of Australia handed down a decision yesterday regarding Personal Leave, to clarify that personal/carers leave should be accrued and taken in ‘Hours’.
Over the last 12 months there has been uncertainty regarding personal/carers leave after the Federal court case of “Mondelez Australia vs AMWU & Ors”, found 2 employees were entitled to accrue and take personal leave in ‘Days’. Had the original ‘Days’ decision been upheld by the High Court there would have been a significant impact to businesses and payroll processes.
What does this mean for businesses?
Under the High Court's approach, for each year of service with his or her employer, an employee is entitled to 10 'notional days' of paid personal/carer's leave per year (it accrues progressively during a year of service). However, the duration of a 'day' is determined by identifying 1/10th of an employee's ordinary hours over a 2 week period.
The High Court judgement clarifies that part-time employees are still entitled to 10 'notional days' leave, and the number of hours in each day of leave is to be calculated on a pro-rata basis depending on how many hours the part-times works in a fortnight.
This judgement ensures that part-time employees, who do not work the same load as full-time employees, access pro-rata hours and not the same (or even more) hours as full-time employees.
Practically speaking, this is a return to the accrual of leave on an hourly basis and the taking of leave, by drawing down from the employee’s pool of accrued paid personal leave on an hourly basis.
Read more on the judgement here.