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The government is contemplating calibrations to the JobKeeper eligibility criteria as Victorian businesses face extensive shutdowns.
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Victoria shutdown forces JobKeeper eligibility modification
04 August 2020
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With JobKeeper 2.0 changes set to apply from 28 September, businesses will have to prove they have suffered the requisite decline in actual GST turnover for the June and September quarters to access the two-tiered payment of $1,200 for full-time workers and $750 for those working less than 20 hours a week.
However, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has now hinted that the June quarter test could be tweaked or done away with, in light of the new stage 4 restrictions that have been imposed across metropolitan Melbourne, and regional Victoria returning to stage 3 restrictions.
“There may be some businesses that didn’t have turnover that was down in the June quarter, so, for example, in May they had strong retail sales, but obviously now we’re in August and over the course of July these businesses have been badly hit,” Mr Frydenberg told the ABC.
“We’re looking at the eligibility question for those because we don’t want businesses that have been really badly hit through the September period but maybe not have met the 30 per cent threshold in the June period, we want to make sure we can get support to them as well.”
Pandemic leave payments
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also announced a $1,500 pandemic leave disaster payment for those who have to isolate for 14 days but have no more sick leave available to them.
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The government will provide these payments to those who are ineligible for JobKeeper or JobSeeker, including those on short-term visas who are ineligible for Commonwealth payments.
The pandemic leave payment will only be made available to Victoria at this stage because it has been declared a state of disaster.
“If another state were to be in a position, and God forbid they were, that there was a disaster of the scale that we’re seeing in Victoria, then a disaster payment of this nature, of pandemic leave, would be entered into, but that would be done on the same basis of what’s been, will be established with Victoria,” Mr Morrison said.
“We will make sure that everyone else who finds themselves in this situation and they don’t have that leave available to them through their sick leave because it’s been exhausted will get a $1,500 payment for that fortnight.”
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