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From 3 August 2020, the eligibility tests for employees were changed to enable a greater number of employees to access JobKeeper.

Previously, an employee had to be employed by the relevant entity on 1 March 2020 to be eligible for JobKeeper payments. Someone employed as a casual on that date also must have been employed on a regular and systematic basis for the 12 month period leading up to 1 March 2020.

Now, employees who were previously ineligible for JobKeeper because they were not employed by the entity on 1 March 2020 may be able to receive JobKeeper payments if they were employed by the entity on 1 July 2020 and can fulfil all of the other eligibility requirements. If an employee already passed all the relevant conditions at 1 March 2020 then they don’t need to be retested using the 1 July 2020 test date.

·         On 1 July 2020 (previously 1 March 2020):

• Was aged 16 years and over; and
  • If the individual was aged 16 or 17, was either financially independent or was not undertaking full-time study;
  • Was an employee other than a casual, or was a long-term casual*; and
  • Was an Australian resident (under the meaning of the Social Security Act 1991), or a resident for tax purposes and held a Subclass 444 (Special category) visa**.

·         And, at any point during the JobKeeper fortnight:

• Was an employee of the employer (including employees that have been stood down or rehired); and
  • Was not an excluded employee:
    • An employee receiving parental leave pay or dad and partner pay; or
    • An employee receiving workers compensation payments in relation to total incapacity.

·         And, has provided the JobKeeper Payment Employee Nomination to the employer:

• Agreeing to be nominated by the employer as an eligible employee under the JobKeeper scheme; and
  • Confirming that they have not agreed to be nominated by another employer; and
  • If they are a long-term casual, they do not have permanent employment with another employer.

*A ‘long term casual employee’ is a person who has been employed by the business on a regular and systematic basis during the period of 12 months that ended on the applicable testing date (previously 1 March 2020, but changing to 1 July 2020). These are likely to be employees with a recurring work schedule or a reasonable expectation of ongoing work.

Contact us if you have any questions on JobKeeper. We are here to help.