JobKeeper 3.0

On 21 July 2020, the Government announced that the JobKeeper Payment (‘JKP’) would be extended until 28 March 2021

As a result, JKPs would now be made over two separate extension periods, being:

• Extension period 1 – 28 September 2020 and end on 3 January 2021; and

• Extension period 2 –4 January 2021 and end on 28 March 2021.

Furthermore, on 7 August 2020, the Government announced adjustments to JobKeeper 2.0 to expand the eligibility criteria for JKP primarily in the wake of the tougher COVID-19 restrictions recently imposed in Victoria. The adjustments contained within JobKeeper 3.0 will apply nationwide, and the crucial amendments include the following:

• Adjustments to employee eligibility – From 3 August 2020, the relevant date of employment will move from 1 March 2020 to 1 July 2020. This is designed to increase employee eligibility for both the existing JKP scheme, as well as for the new extension periods from 28 September 2020.

Casual employees will still be required to have been employed on a regular and systematic basis for a minimum of 12 months (as is required under the existing JKP scheme).

• Adjustments to the ‘Decline in Turnover Test’ – To qualify for the JKP in the extension periods, businesses will now only have to demonstrate that their actual GST turnovers have significantly decreased in the previous quarter under JobKeeper 3.0.

Specifically, to be eligible for the JKP Extension Period 1, businesses only need to demonstrate a significant decline in turnover in the September 2020 quarter (whereas under the previously announced JobKeeper 2.0, they would have been required to show that they had suffered a significant decline in turnover in both the June and September 2020 quarters).

To be eligible for the JKP Extension Period 2 businesses only need to demonstrate a significant decline in turnover in the December 2020 quarter.

Importantly, the dual payment rate system originally proposed in JobKeeper 2.0 will remain, with the full rate of payment decreasing from $1,500 to $1,200 per fortnight from 28 September 2020 and then to $1,000 per fortnight from 4 January 2021. The proposed reduced rates (being $750 from 28 September 2020 and $650 from 4 January 2021) will also remain for employees and business participants who worked fewer than 20 hours per week in the relevant period.

How does this impact your business’s eligibility and payments?

The team at ZT Partners will be assessing your business turnover in the upcoming quarters and will advise whether this affects your ongoing Jobkeeper payments. 

It is critical that you provide accurate and up to date information if and when requested to ensure that we can review your information in a timely manner.

If you have any queries relating to this, please don’t hesitate to contact one of the team to discuss.

For more details, please download the Treasury fact sheet here: Extension of the JobKeeper Payment (7 August 2020)