THE WORKPLACE COLLECTIVE

The ATO has now announced 2 key extensions for the JobKeeper scheme. Employers will now have until 31 May 2020 to enrol for the initial JobKeeper fortnights. If Employers enrol by 31 May 2020, they will still be able to claim for the fortnights in April and May 2020, provided you meet all of the eligibility requirements for each of those fortnights. This includes having paid your eligible employees by the appropriate date for each fortnight. The dates for the fortnights can

The Treasurer released a JobKeeper Update on Friday afternoon, 24 April 2020. Key clarification includes: Re-emphasised the 'one-in, all-in' principle. This means that once an Employer decides to participate in the scheme, and their eligible employees have agreed to be nominated by the Employer, the Employer must ensure that all of those eligible employees are included. This will include employees that have been stood down and of course those still working. Employers cannot

The Federal Government has now released the National COVID-19 Safe Workplace Principles to facilitate Employers returning their employees back to their workplaces. There are 10 Principles which will apply to Employers and employees and are designed to assist in preparing workplaces to resume normal operations as the Government restrictions start to be lifted. It will be critical for Employers to ensure their workplaces are ready for what the new 'normal' will look like post C

Further flexibility has been introduced to allow Employers with Enterprise Agreements to respond to the impacts of COVID-19 on their businesses. Temporary changes have been made to the Fair Work Regulations 2009 (Cth) for the next 6 months to amend the Access Period to vary an Enterprise Agreement down from 7 days to 1 day. This will mean Employers will only need to give 1 day's notice for employees to vote on proposed changes to their Enterprise Agreement. Any proposed vari

If your business is eligible for the JobKeeper Payments, make sure you are aware of the temporary provisions in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) that will assist you to further manage the impacts of COVID-19. Who do the new provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act) apply to? The FW Act has been changed temporarily until 28 September 2020 to provide greater flexibility for those businesses that qualify and remain qualified for the JobKeeper Payments. These temporary prov

The JobKeeper Payments of $1,500 per fortnight (before tax) for each eligible employee will be in place from 30 March 2020 until 27 September 2020. Payments will start to be made in the first week of May 2020 and will be made in arrears, although in April we understand the ATO can make payments in advance. We set out below how these payments will now help Eligible Employers and we answer some of the commonly asked questions. Full details of the JobKeeper Payments eligibility

99 Modern Awards were temporarily changed on 8 April 2020 to give employees access to 2 weeks Unpaid Pandemic Leave, and also enable them to take Annual Leave at Half Pay. These provisions will remain in operation until 30 June 2020. The Fair Work Commission decided not to take a broader approach at this time and noted that most Modern Awards provided for changes in the hours of work for part-time employees, and that there was no impediment in most Modern Awards for full-tim

It is expected that from next week the Fair Work Commission will amend 103 of the 122 Modern Awards to introduce two new measures to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. A full list of the Modern Awards to be changed and the Fair Work Commission’s Statement dated 1 April 2020 can be found here. We expect the proposed measures to be in operation from mid to late next week until 30 June 2020. The changes include: Unpaid Pandemic Leave Any employee may elect to take up to 2 weeks’ un