The Government announced further changes to the JobKeeper Payment program, to assist more businesses qualify for the previously announced JobKeeper Payment extension that applies from 28 September 2020 to 28 March 2021.
Under the changes, a business or not-for-profit will only be required to satisfy the turnover test in:
- Sept 2020 quarter (generally compared with Sept 2019 quarter), for Phase 1 of JobKeeper extension, and
- Dec 2020 quarter (generally compared with Dec 2019 quarter), for Phase 2 of JobKeeper extension.
Prior to these changes, a business or not-for-profit would have been required to satisfy the turnover test in:
- June 2020 and Sept 2020 quarters (generally compared with corresponding quarters in 2019), for Phase 1 of JobKeeper extension, and
- June 2020, Sept 2020 and Dec 2020 quarters (generally compared with corresponding quarters in 2019), for Phase 2 of JobKeeper extension.
This change will allow a business to qualify for both JobKeeper and the JobKeeper extension even if its turnover has not substantially reduced until after June 2020.
In addition, the Government is allowing employees who recently commenced employment between 1 March 2020 and 30 June 2020, access to JobKeeper Payment.