There have been some changes made to JobKeeper since our last newsletter. Businesses will need to meet one of the decline in turnover tests for the September 2020 quarter alone (rather than for both the June and September quarters as announced in July) to be eligible for JobKeeper for the period 28 September 2020 to 3 January 2021. Beyond that, businesses will have to meet the decline in turnover tests for the December 2020 quarter to be eligible for JobKeeper for the period 4 January to 28 March 2021.

For the eligible employee test, the reference date for assessing which employees are eligible for JobKeeper is now 1 July 2020 (previously 1 March) with effect from fortnight 10 (3 August 2020). The reference period for employees regarding their hours worked to determine their tier of payment will be the two fortnightly pay periods prior to 1 March 2020 or 1 July 2020. The period with the higher number of hours is to be used for employees who were eligible at 1 March 2020.

The ATO had already extended the wage condition deadline to 31 August for fortnights 10 and 11.