COVID-19 Support Package -
JobKeeper Payments
as at 31 March 2020

The Federal Government has released its third stimulus package for Australia in response to COVID-19. Below is a summary of the new JobKeeper Payments. To avoid confusion, the terminology used is as follows:

JobKeeper Payment – payments from the Government (via the Tax Office) to Employers relating to the number of employees they have. Payments must be passed on to the Employees via the business'normal payroll processes.

JobSeeker Payment – payments from the Government (via Centrelink) to individuals who are not working and are seeking work. It now incorporates numerous other income support payments from Centrelink.

• Determined based on number of employees as at 1 March 2020 subject to employee eligibility requirements
• Employees must still be employed or engaged by the Employer – where employees were stood down after 1 March, you can re-engage these employees if the intention is to continue with them on the other side.
• The business must have had a reduction of revenue of 30% or more since 1 March 2020, assessed over a minimum one-month period. The comparable period will be from a year ago, and generally a typical month (more details to be released).
• Employees that are counted can be full-time or part-time, or casual. There is no full-time equivalent calculation, it is based on number of heads of employees.
• In relation to casual employees, they qualify as an employee for this payment where they have been with the employer for the past 12 months.
• If employees have multiple employers, only one employer can receive the payment which is forwarded to the employee. Please check with your employees as to which employer they want to be registered with as their primary employer. This is generally the employer they claim the Tax Free threshold from.
• If you are self-employed, you can also receive the JobKeeper payment where you can demonstrate a reduction in revenue of 30% along with the other eligibility requirements.

• Employers will receive $1,500 per fortnight per employee before tax – this is a set amount, and does not increase or decrease based on the normal earnings of the employee.
• At this stage, the package will last for up to 6 months.
• Employers must elect to be in the scheme – this is not automatic. Applications can be made through the Tax Office or through us.
• The employers must pay this amount to each employee regardless of their normal earnings.
• An employer may top up the payment to the employee's normal wages if they choose. This may be the case if the employee is still working in some capacity.
• If an employee earns less than this amount per fortnight, they must still receive the $1,500 before tax.
• The assistance will start from 30 March 2020, but payments from the Tax Office will not start until the first week of May (in arrears).

• Casual employees who have been with their employer for less than 12 months can still apply for the Government JobSeeker payments (or other relevant payment) dependent on their circumstances.
• Where an employee has moved on and will not return to the position they had, they are not engaged with the Employer and therefore don't qualify.
• Employees who have already applied for JobSeeker payments, that now qualify for JobKeeper should advise Centrelink they will be getting payments from their employer instead. Failing to do this will result in payments being required to be paid back either from the employer and/or the employee.
• Superannuation must be paid for employees where they continue to work earning wages. The superannuation guarantee is calculated only on the portion referable to the earning part, so this could be less than the total amount paid to them.
• The ATO will generally use Single Touch Payroll to gather some of the required information, although this may not be available in all cases.