Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced some big JobKeeper changes this morning. The changes are applicable for all of Australia but they have been made to “cushion the blow” for the stage four lockdown restrictions in Victoria. These JobKeeper changes announced this morning are expected to make applying for JobKeeper easier for hundreds of thousands more employees and businesses. These changes will start from the 28th September 2020.
Some of the changes include;
Businesses and not-for-profits: will now only have to show a significant fall in turnover for the September quarter, instead of showing a significant fall in turnover in June and September quarters. This JobKeeper extension will run until the 28th of March 2021.
Employees: those employed as of July 1st 2020 will now be able to access the JobKeeper program, instead of the 1st of March 2020.
When required to prove eligibility again for JobKeeper in January 2021, businesses and not-for-profits will have to prove they have had a significant fall in turnover for the December period, instead of the initial “two previous quarters” period of December and September.
You can find out more about the new JobKeeper changes here.
The Difference Between JobKeeper And JobSeeker
The JobKeeper scheme is aimed to help employers retain Aussies in jobs and support businesses affected by the impact of coronavirus while the JobSeeker scheme is for anyone who has been let go (ie sole traders, contract workers, casual workers and the self-employed) due to Coronavirus.
The New JobKeeper Changes
JobKeeper was originally meant to finish up in September, the government announced that the JobKeeper payment of $1500 per fortnight will now be extended until 28 March 2021. However, there are two payment cuts within this time frame:
28 September 2020 — a new “two-tier” system will come into effect, this will split the JobKeeper payments into separate types of payments (high or low) based on whether you work more than 20 hours per week or less than 20 hours per week in February 2020.
28 September 2020 — JobKeeper payment will be reduced to $1200 per fortnight if you worked more than 20 hours per week. If you worked less than 20 hours per week, you’ll move to $750 per fortnight.
3 January 2021 — JobKeeper payment will be reduced again, to $1000 per fortnight if you worked more than 20 hours per week. If you worked less than this, your payment will be reduced to $650 per fortnight.
You can find out more about the new JobKeeper changes here.
The New JobSeeker Changes
This fortnightly payment is sitting at $1115 per fortnight at the moment. Changes you need to be aware of include:
28 September 2020 — JobSeeker payment will be reduced to $815 per fortnight.
28 September 2020 — You’ll be able to earn up to $300 a fortnight before your JobSeeker payment is affected (instead of $106)
End of December 2020 — The above JobSeeker rate is due to end, however information about JobSeeker payments may be revised in the next few months and could potentially continue into 2021.