The first JobKeeper Extension Subsidy finished earlier this month with the last fortnight ending on Sunday the 3rd of January. Now is the time to look into whether you may be eligible for JobKeeper Extension 2 which commenced on the 4th of January 2021 and runs until the 28th of March 2021.
To Qualify for JobKeeper Extension 2, you must have met the decline in turnover test by having over a 30% decline in turnover for your business (15% for non-for-profit) for the December 2020 Quarter compared to the December 2019 Quarter.
You may still be eligible for JobKeeper Subsidy Extension 2, even if you did not meet the criteria for the Original JobKeeper Subsidy or the Jobkeeper Subsidy Extension 1. This means that just because you may have had a good quarter in September 2020, June 2020 or April 2020 compared to 2019, if you have since had a drop in revenue in December, you may find you are now eligible.
Employees will remain split into Tier 1 (work 20+ hours per week) or Tier 2 (work less than 20 hours per week) and receive the payment accordingly. The rate for those in Tier 1 will be $1,000 per fortnight & the rate for employees in Tier 2 will be $650 per fortnight. These payments must be made to the employee within the relevant fortnight or you will not be eligible to claim on behalf of the employee for that fortnight.
If you meet the JobKeeper Extension 2 criteria, you will have until the 31st of January to top-up your employees pay if they have earned less than the payment received for their tier. If you have qualified for Jobkeeper Extension 2, but were not part of JobKeeper Extension 1, you may need to add the tiers to your payroll.