On July 21, JobKeeper version 2 was announced by the Morrison Government. In light of the resurgence of COVID-19 – and subsequent lockdown – in Victoria, there have been tweaks to JobKeeper v 2.0 with the effect of broadening its eligibility to businesses. While these changes are as a result of the worsening situation in Victoria, it is important to note that JobKeeper v 2.0 will apply to all businesses across Australia.
The major changes to JobKeeper v 2.0 are:
- To qualify for JobKeeper payments from 28 September 2020 to 3 January 2021, businesses will only need to demonstrate a significant decline for the September quarter 2020 (previously it was a decline in both June quarter 2020 and September quarter 2020).
- To qualify for JobKeeper payments from 4 January 2021 to 28 March 2021, businesses will only need to demonstrate a significant decline for the December quarter 2020 (previously an employer also had to demonstrate a decline in the June quarter 2020 and September quarter 2020).
- JobKeeper payments will now be eligible for employees that commenced working from July 1 (previously the employees had to be employed as at 01 March 2020).
To find out more, please click here to access our guide to JobKeeper version 2.0 but just remember that the proposed changes are not yet law and the details could still change.