On Friday afternoon the ATO released more details as to the expansion of JobKeeper 1.
Employee Eligibility
We mentioned the other day that there are new eligibility factors for JobKeeper and that there was a key change to employee eligibility.
The ATO Website now states that employees must pass either the 1 March 2020 test or the 1 July 2020 test.
1 July 2020 test
This test requires that you met all of the following criteria on 1 July 2020:
- you were employed as either a:
- non-casual employee (whether full-time, part-time, or fixed-term)
- long-term casual employee (employed on a regular and systematic basis during the 12 month period that ended 1 July) and not a permanent employee of any other employer
- you were 18 years or older (if you were 16 or 17 you can also qualify if you were independent or not studying full time on 1 July 2020)
- you are an Australian resident under the Social Security Act 1991, which requires you to reside in Australia, and are one of: an Australian citizen, the holder of a permanent visa, or a Protected Special Category Visa Holder. You can find more information about these requirements from the Services Australia website under residence descriptionsExternal Link. You can also be an Australian tax resident who is a Special Category (Subclass 444) Visa Holder. If you aren’t a permanent resident of Australia you must notify your employer of your visa status to allow them to determine if you’re eligible for JobKeeper payments
Next step:
1 March 2020 test
This test requires that you met all of the following criteria on 1 March 2020:
- You were aged 18 years or older at 1 March 2020 (if you were 16 or 17 you can also qualify for fortnights before 11 May 2020, and continue to qualify after that if you are independent or not undertaking full time study).
- You were an employee (other than a casual employee) of the employer, or you were a long term casual employee.
- You were an Australian resident within the meaning of section 7 of the Social Security Act 1991 or you were both a tax resident of Australia for the purposes of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 and the holder of a Subclass 444 (Special Category) visa. More information is available on the residency requirement.
If you did not satisfy these requirements on 1 March 2020, you are not considered an eligible employee of an employer entitled to a JobKeeper payment for fortnights ending on or before 2 August 2020.
See the eligible employees page on the ATO website
Employer Obligations
With this in mind we are also aware that the one in/all in requirement is also still applicable. This means that if you are paying one eligible employee then you must pay all eligible employee’s.
This means that to continue receiving the JobKeeper 1 payment that you must pay any newly eligible employees who now qualify based on the July 1 2020 test.
The ATO website now states as of Friday that employers have up until 31st August 2020 to make top up payments to employees for the fornights commencing 3 August 2020 and 17 August 2020 (Otherwise known as fortnight 10 and fortnight 11).
See JobKeeper Key Data on the ATO Website
As per normal if you have questions or concerns then please contact us to discuss.