Nadine Dilong Could the government’s latest stimulus package save thousands of jobs?
In an unprecedented move by the Australian government, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has just announced the ‘Job Keeper’ package, worth a mind-blowing $130 billion.
If you are a small business owner and have had to stand staff down recently due to the impact of COVID-19, you may be eligible to receive a salary subsidy through the ATO, allowing you to keep your staff employed for at least six months.
The flat rate payment of $1,500 per fortnight and employee is available to any small business that has experienced a loss of revenue of at least 30%, and applies to full and part time workers, sole traders, and casuals who have been with their employer for 12 months or more. The payments will also apply to not-for-profit entities and to workers from New Zealand on 444 visas.
The payments will be issued from May 1, and will be backdated to March 1, 2020. While people cannot access both Job Seeker and Job Keeper payments, the Prime Minister has urged employees who have recently been stood down to contact their employers to see if they have registered for the subsidy.
“The key point here is we want to keep the employer and the employee formally connected, because on the other side of the coronavirus, we want businesses to bounce back stronger than ever. By having people still connected to their employer, that will help that recovery phase, as well as obviously through this process providing increased incentives for people to stay in employment,” said Treasurer Josh Frydenberg today.
With thousands of people in the aesthetics industry having lost their jobs last week, this package could allow them to be re-hired by their (former) employers.
Keep checking back for more information on this over the coming days.
