Update for the Job maker program, this is for new genuinely additional employees only. Please see below an update of the basics of the incentive.
Summary
DURATION
The hiring credit is backdated to 7 October 2020 (applying to new employees from that date) and will provide eligible employers with the following payments for up to 12 months for new jobs created from that date:
- $200 a week for hiring a worker aged 16 to 29 on at least 20 hours a week during the JobMaker period and
- $100 a week for those aged 30 to 35 on at least 20 hours a week during the JobMaker period. Although the credit is slated to operate for just 12 months, that period is the hiring period – not the payment period. Eligible employers who hire an eligible employee on the last day of the scheme (6 October 2021), may be eligible for hiring credits for the subsequent 12 months until 6 October 2022 for those employees.
20 HOURS
To be clear, eligible employees must have worked an average of at least 20 hours per week over a JobMaker period (which is a quarter of the year – see later) for the employer to qualify for the payment in respect of that employee. The 20 hour average applies in relation to the number of whole weeks that an employee was employed in a period. While the hours that an individual worked during a part week count towards whether an employee has met this threshold, the threshold itself is only based on the number of full weeks that the employee was employed. For example, if an employee was employed for 38 days in a period because they commenced or terminated their employment during the period, the 20 hour threshold would be based on the five full weeks that they were employed. The employer would be required to demonstrate 100 hours of work for which the employee was paid over the period.
ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEES
These are those who commenced employment between 7 October 2020 and 6 October 2021, were aged between 16 and 35 years at the time they commenced employment, and worked an average of 20 hours a week for each whole week the individual was employed by the qualifying employer during the JobMaker period.
Additionally, the worker must have met the pre-employment condition, which requires that for at least 28 of the 84 days (i.e. for 4 out of 12 weeks) immediately before the commencement of the individual’s employment they were receiving at least one of the following payments:
- Parenting payment
- Youth allowance (except if the individual was receiving thus payment on the basis that they were undertaking full time study or was a new apprentice) or
- JobSeeker payment.
- Further, the employer must not be receiving a wage subsidy in respect of the particular employee (such as the apprentice wage subsidy announced at the onset of COVID, or JobKeeper).
The new worker must be in a genuine employment relationship. For example, ‘non-arms length’ employees will not be considered eligible employees.
This includes:
- a relative of the sole trader
- a partner in a partnership or a close associated or the partner
- a trustee or a beneficiary of the trust, or a close associate of the trustee or beneficiary
- a shareholder or director of the company, or a close associate of the shareholder or director. “Close associate” is a term newly introduced by paragraph 4AA of the JobMaker Rules and is defined to mean a “relative” of any of the ineligible individuals listed above