21 Jul 2020

The federal government is extending JobKeeper for 6 months to 28 March 2021 after it was originally due to end 27 September 2020.

The extended payment will see changes to eligibility for businesses and the introduction of a 2-tiered payment system.

Changes to eligibility

Businesses will be required to demonstrate a 'significant' and 'ongoing' decline in turnover to qualify for the extended JobKeeper.

To be eligible for the payment in December, businesses must demonstrate a loss of turnover for both June and September quarters of 2020. For the March payment, businesses must demonstrate a decline in turnover for the previous three quarters.

Changes to payment amount

From 28 September 2020 the extended JobKeeper will be a 2-tier system based on the average number of hours an employee worked in the 4 weeks leading up to 1 March 2020. Employees must have worked an average of 20 hours or more a week during this period to receive the full rate.

Under the tiered system, from 28 September 2020 to 3 January 2021 employees will receive either:

  • the full rate of 1200 per fortnight, or
  • the lower rate of 750 per fortnight.

Then from 4 January 2021 to 28 March 2021 employees will receive either:

  • the full rate of 1000 per fortnight, or
  • the lower rate of 650 per fortnight.