Breaking News - JobKeeper passed through Parliament

​Happy Easter from the Australian Federal Treasury – the JobKeeper subsidy passed through Parliament last night and now we have some surety as to what you can do as an employer.  To provide you some peace of mind before the Easter break, here is a quick overview as to what’s happening:

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The following powers apply only to employers that are eligible to receive the JobKeeper subsidy.  If you are not eligible, it is business as usual and you must adhere to due process when changing working hours and so forth.


HOW JOBKEEPER WILL HELP SUPPORT YOUR BUSINESS THROUGH THE PANDEMIC

• You CAN reduce hours and change days of work without mutual agreement.   There is certain terminology that you must use – “JobKeeper enabling stand down directions” – but you can reduce employees days and hours to the level the business requires.  Some businesses will choose to cap the hours in line with the JobKeeper subsidy however,  if you require hours beyond this level you will naturally need to top up your employees wages to the appropriate level.
• You can direct employees to undertake duties that are outside their normal duties as long as they are reasonable.  Be mindful though that if you direct them to perform a duty that would normally require them to be paid at a higher rate, you could inadvertently be underpaying them based on their Award.
• You can direct them to work at a different location, including their home.
• You MUST provide 3 days’ notice – we recommend making this business days’ notice.
• Eligible employees are not legally required to agree to receiving the JobKeeper payment. However, given that you are required to notify the employee that they have been nominated as an eligible employee for the scheme, we recommend that you do this in writing and have the employee acknowledge this. This will avoid any issues with the employee receiving payments from more than one employer where they have multiple jobs. You must notify the ATO if an employee informs you that you are not their primary employer.
• During a JobKeeper enabling stand down period, you will need to meet an ‘hourly rate of pay guarantee (i.e. paying at least the same hourly rate your employee/s would have received, on a pro rata basis.)

A key point for many of you is that you can now bring employees that have been stood down since 1 March 2020 back into work to complete appropriate work that will help them engaged and connected to the business.  You can absolutely use this time to prepare your business to burst out of the gate as restrictions lift and we get back to running at normal levels.  You can complete projects, update training, prepare in house manuals, have all the maintenance sorted – whatever it is your business needs to do to be prepared for a post coronavirus life.

Contact the HR Staff n’ Stuff team for any support or clarity you require about the implementation of the JobKeeper subsidy within your business.   It is very new legislation and we want to make sure you get it right from the outset.  In the meantime, enjoy your Easter now you know you have a little additional support.

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