Changes to Casual Employment

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If you haven’t heard already, on Friday 26th March 2021, the Fair Work Act 2009 was amended to change workplace rights and obligations for casual employees. These changes came into effect on Saturday 27th March 2021.

In a nutshell, what has changed is the Amendment Act has introduced the following
-The Casual Employment Information Statement
-The Definition of Casual Employment
-Pathway for casual employees to move to full time or part-time (permanent) employment.

In regards to the Casual Employment Information Statement, now Employers will have to give every new casual employee a Casual Employment Information Statement before, or as soon as possible after they start their new job.

The definition of a Casual Employee is the Fair Work Act has been amended to include a new definition. That a person is a casual employee if they accept a job offer from an employer knowing that there is no firm advance commitment to ongoing work with an agreed pattern of work. They will remain a casual employee until they either, become a permanent employee through: casual conversion, or are offered and accept the offer for full time or part time employment, or stop being employed by the employer.

The existing casual employees, which are those casuals who were employed immediately before 27th March 2021 and whose initial employment offer meets the definition, will then continue to be casual employees under the FW Act.

If this sounds all too confusing, give me a call and let me step you through it and remember that there is a new avenue to resolve some disputes about casual conversion through the Federal Circuit Court.

Maree Punzet | Maree’s Mobile Bookkeeping | 0429 363 047
You didn’t go into business to do your Payroll and Bookkeeping, BUT WE DID
We are a full service, insourced Payroll and Bookkeeping business that puts money back in your pocket and saves you time to work in/on your business this makes good financial sense!!

Job Keeper Tiers and Testing Eligibility

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Without going into the nitty gritty of the new changes to the Job Keeper tiers from 1st October 2020, here is a great link that explains it in layman terms.

https://www.mybusiness.com.au/tax-accounting/7473-ato-addresses-jobkeeper-tiers-and-what-it-expects-of-employers?utm_source=MyBusiness&utm_campaign=25_09_20&utm_medium=email&utm_content=7&utm_emailID=a4e9c39a71c818b32f3ea4e19578eb08e4c1bb37f2731e2f53df0320a967ae57

Though if you are totally confused by it all, give me a call direct on 0429 363 047.

Maree Punzet | Maree’s Mobile Bookkeeping | 0429 363 047
You didn’t go into business to do your Payroll and Bookkeeping, BUT WE DID

We are a full service, insourced Payroll and Bookkeeping business that puts money back in your pocket. Our team works like a full-time employee and part of your business when it comes to processing your Payroll and bookkeeping, but without the cost or other concerns full time employees bring.   When compared to a full-time employee, we give you all the benefits and more but save you around $60,000 a year in costs, makes good financial sense!!

1st October 2020 marks the start of the Job Keeper Extension

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From 1st October, Job keeper 2 or the extension to Job Keeper has started, this link here provides a little bit more information.

I have received a number of calls from clients not sure how to determine not only if there are eligible but also what tier their employees or even themselves as business owner will be on.

People will need to total what their September Quarter sales were for 2020 and the same with 2019,.

If you have had a reduction of 30% or more, you will definitely be entitled to the Job Keeper extension.

Then you just need to use the reference period of Feb 2020 to determine if you or your staff worked more or less then the 80 hours in the month to determine the Tier.

If, you are still stuck and don’t have any idea what to do, please give me a call on
0429 363 047.

https://www.mybusiness.com.au/tax-accounting/7398-ato-releases-jobkeeper-extension-guidance-setting-out-post-september-procedures?utm_source=MyBusiness&utm_campaign=07_09_20&utm_medium=email&utm_content=1&utm_emailID=a4e9c39a71c818b32f3ea4e19578eb08e4c1bb37f2731e2f53df0320a967ae57

Maree Punzet | Maree’s Mobile Bookkeeping | 0429 363 047
You didn’t go into business to do your Payroll and Bookkeeping, BUT WE DID

We are a full service, insourced Payroll and Bookkeeping business that puts money back in your pocket. Our team works like a full-time employee and part of your business when it comes to processing your Payroll and bookkeeping, but without the cost or other concerns full time employees bring.   When compared to a full-time employee, we give you all the benefits and more but save you around $60,000 a year in costs, makes good financial sense!!

Job Keeper Payment changes effective 3 August 2020

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With all the recent changes, we now have confirmation of the following, this has been taken from the ATO Website.

“JobKeeper Payment changes

The government has introduced changes to the JobKeeper Payment, making it easier for you and your business clients to qualify. The new rules have now been registered and are effective from 3 August 2020.

The changes to these rules include:

  • employees’ eligibility for the JobKeeper Payment can now be assessed from 1 July 2020, rather than 1 March 2020
  • employees can now be nominated by new employers if their employment has changed since the JobKeeper Payment began. However, they can still only be nominated by one employer at any given time
  • employers have until 31 August 2020 to meet the wage condition for new eligible employees under the 1 July eligibility test for:
    • Fortnight 10 – commencing on 3 August, and
    • Fortnight 11 – commencing 17 August 2020.

Businesses can claim reimbursement for their new eligible employees between 1 and 14 September 2020, when they lodge their August monthly declaration.

Your eligible business and not-for-profit clients can still enrol at any time until the program closes”

So, what does this all mean?

In simple terms:

Originally you had to be a permanent employee or a long-term casual from the 1st March 2020, but the Government has changed it if you have been a permanent employee or long-term casual from 1st July 2020.

A couple of examples to give you that makes it simpler to understand.

  1. As long as the business you work did have a downturn in their business and was getting Job keeper since the start of the Health Crisis, if the business puts on an Employee in April 2020 for example, they can also apply and get Job keeper for that employee.
  2. If you have a long-term casual who celebrated 12 months or more working in your business in April 2020, you can now get Job Keeper for them.

If you are still confused and not sure about all these changes, please do not hesitate to contact me anytime on 0429 363 047.

Maree Punzet | Maree’s Mobile Bookkeeping | 0429 363 047
You didn’t go into business to do your Payroll and Bookkeeping, BUT WE DID

We are a full service, insourced Payroll and Bookkeeping business that puts money back in your pocket. Our team works like a full-time employee and part of your business when it comes to processing your Payroll and bookkeeping, but without the cost or other concerns full time employees bring.   When compared to a full-time employee, we give you all the benefits and more but save you around $60,000 a year in costs, makes good financial sense!!

Can you still get Job Keeper if you receive the Carers Pension?

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Now this question has come into debate recently. There is a link here stating you cannot obtain both.

The Job keeper payment will affect the amount of money you receive for the Carers Pension. If you do however submit for Job keeper, your Carer payment will either stop or be reduced. Once you do not receive the Job Keeper payment. Once the Job keeper payments stops, you can then reapply for your Carers Payment again. Therefore, after this 12-week period, you will need to reapply again from scratch for the Carers Pension.

So, the answer is NO. It is always wise to review the ATO website and also speak to your Bookkeeper in regards to what you can and can’t receive. This easy read fact sheet, states plainly very clearly what you can and can’t do.

If you have any questions in relation to Jobkeeper or the Carers Pension, please do not hesitate to contact me anytime on 0429 363 047.

https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/05_2020/dss-carer-payment-jobkeeper-payment-easy-read-fact-sheet.pdf

Maree Punzet | Maree’s Mobile Bookkeeping | 0429 363 047
You didn’t go into business to do your Payroll and Bookkeeping, BUT WE DID

We are a full service, insourced Payroll and Bookkeeping business that puts money back in
your pocket. Our team works like a full-time employee and part of your business when it comes to processing your Payroll and bookkeeping, but without the cost or other concerns full time employees bring.   When compared to a full-time employee, we give you all the benefits and more but save you around $60,000 a year in costs, makes good financial sense!!

Will you still be eligible for JobKeeper after September 2020?

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Recently the Prime Minister and the Treasurer have indicated what the JobKeeper program will look like moving forward after September 2020 through to 20th March 2021.

For those that are currently on JobKeeper, the current arrangements will be staying in place to September 25th, that’s when things are changing.

Beyond September 25th 2020 until March 20th 2021, the Government has brought out the new two tier system at a lower rate for businesses who may be eligible. The reason they are doing this as they know many businesses are doing it tough, but not to completely cut off funding, they have reduced and brought in this system, which personally I feel is extremely generous, as the Government could have stopped the payments after September 2020.

1. But who is eligible?

If you need assistance and not sure, this is where I can assist and help you.

To apply for JobKeeper 2.0 support for the quarter ending 27th December 2020, a business will need to meet the required downturn (30% or more) for both the June 2020 and September 2020 quarters.

To apply for the following quarter, ending 28th March 2021, a business will need to meet the downturn (30% or more) for each of the June 2020, September 2020 and December 2020 quarters.

2. So will the JobKeeper payments be reduced?

The answer is YES.

After September 25th 2020, the current rate of $1500.00 per employee payments will no longer apply. In the next phases there will be two tiers of payments and reductions each quarter.
The first level will be for people working 20 hours or more a week.

The payments for these employees will be reduced to $1200 per fortnight for the Dec 2020 quarter and further reduced to $1000 per fortnight for the Mar 2021 quarter
The second level will be for people working less than 20 hours a week.

The payments for these employees will be reduced to $750 per fortnight for the Dec 2020 quarter and further reduced to $650 per fortnight for the Mar 2021 quarter.

This is in line with new changes to the JobSeeker payments.

The exact details around these changes are of course still to be legislated, and as a result subject to change, but this is what we know now.

Of course, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Maree Punzet | Maree’s Mobile Bookkeeping | 0429 363 047
You didn’t go into business to do your Payroll and Bookkeeping, BUT WE DID

We are a full service, insourced Payroll and Bookkeeping business that puts money back in your pocket. Our team works like a full-time employee and part of your business when it comes to processing your Payroll and bookkeeping, but without the cost or other concerns full time employees bring. When compared to a full-time employee, we give you all the benefits and more but save you around $60,000 a year in costs, makes good financial sense!!

Has the Job keeper package helped you stay afloat in your business or not?

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For many business owners, I have answered many questions about the Job Keeper Package that the Government brought out for those that had lost 30% or more in income since COVID-19 hit our shores in Australia.

It is encouraging to see many business owners who took the stimulus package to put that money back into their business.

But has it actually helped you in your business stay afloat?

Has it made a huge impact in the day to day operations of your business?

Will you be able to still survive when the stimulus package finishes in September 2020?

Have you had your books looked over by a Bookkeeper?

You may be one of many businesses that may need a Bookkeeper to go over your books with a fine tooth comb, because let’s face it, just the stress of all this  and keeping your business afloat, many businesses slack off when it comes to bookkeeping and this is an important time to have a health check and your bookwork reviewed.

Let me help you today, let’s have a chat and let me help you keep your business afloat.

Maree Punzet
Maree’s Mobile Bookkeeping | Over 20 years Bookkeeping experience | Qualified BAS Agent
M: 0429 363 047
www.mareesmobilebookkeeping.com.au

Job keeper Package – have you enrolled/applied yet?

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Many businesses have still not enrolled or yet applied for the Job Keeper package.

Some reasons why they haven’t:

a) They did not have a downturn in business in March/April 2020, but some of those businesses have not re-checked for May, or have just assumed that there earnings have not changed.

b) Don’t miss out on the Job keeper package, if you think it’s too late to apply, because it isn’t

Contact Maree and she will help you and check if you are eligible or not.

Maree’s Mobile Bookkeeping
0429 363 049
www.mareesmobilebookkeeping.com.au