Adjustments to Employee Eligibility for JobKeeper
The ATO has released further guidance on the recent changes to the JobKeeper scheme in relation to the timing of an eligible employee.
From JobKeeper fortnights commencing 3rd August, the key date for eligible employees has changed to 1 July. In the past, an employee had to be on the books as of the 1st of March in order to be eligible for the JobKeeper wage subsidy. This change is to allow for businesses that started opening up and taking on new employees after March.
Any full time or part time worker as of 1 July or any casual employee with over 12 months regular and consistent service of a business is an eligible employee for JobKeeper purposes.
Full time or part employees who commenced work after 1 March and before 1 July will now be eligible. However, there are also several other categories of employees who might become eligible under this change over this time frame:
- Casuals who with the extended date now meet the 12 months service requirement;
- Employees who turned 18;
- Employees who meet the Visa requirements.
All eligible employees must be provided the nomination notice by this Friday 21st August. Note that this only applies to previously ineligible employees who now are eligible. Any employee who was eligible as at 1 March keeps this status and there is no need for them to confirm their eligibility again.
There’s also some good news for businesses on JobKeeper as the ATO has announced employers will have until 31 August to ensure these new eligible employees are paid the minimum $1,500 per fortnight wage requirement.
Further guidance on JobKeeper 2.0 (i.e. the payments after September) will be released shortly.
If you have any questions regarding JobKeeper, please do not hesitate to contact us.