From 28 September 2020, eligibility for the JobKeeper Payment will be based on actual turnover in the relevant periods, the payment will be stepped down and paid at two rates.
Small and medium business (SMB) confidence and conditions declined sharply, while capacity utilisation also declined to its lowest level in the history of the survey. The deterioration was evident across all size tiers and across each of the trading, profitability and employment sub-components. In addition, forward-looking indicators for both conditions, employment and capex all deteriorated sharply in addition to a weak outcome for forward orders.
If you’re an Australian business, you can fit out your workplace for COVID-19 by ensuring you have the relevant signage to keep your staff and customers safe.
This means restrictions on gatherings, hospitality, transport and social distancing have now been removed. Border restrictions however remain.
Applications open from tomorrow 10 June 2020 for the Wage Subsidy Extension. An employer must have experienced a revenue loss of at least 40% in a 30-day period in the 40 days immediately before the employer applies for the extension, compared to the closest period last year.
No more shared cookie jars, fewer meetings, staggered start times and temperature checks before you leave the house – Aussies may be heading back to work, but the office will never be the same.
On the plus side, hot-desking will likely be a thing of the past as the world makes the transition to “post-COVID workplaces”, where hygiene, safety, social distancing and regular cleaning will take the driver’s seat after decades of cost-cutting measures.
And millennials who entered the workforce in the “open plan” era may soon be getting their first taste of the cubicle.
As expected, the 2020 Budget has been a high spending one with a deficit forecasted to be $29.6 billion in 2021.
Unemployment is projected to increase significantly, peaking at 9.8 per cent in the September 2020 quarter before recovering thereafter.
New Zealand’s real GDP growth rate is projected to decline from 2.8 per cent in the year ending June 2019 to -4.6 per cent in the year ending June 2020. Annual real GDP growth is not forecast to become positive until the year ending June 2022.
The Government’s net core debt is predicted to be 30.2 per cent of GDP in 2019/20, 49.8 per cent of GDP in 2021/22 and 53.6 per cent of GDP in 2023/24.
At Alert Level 2 businesses can operate if they’re able to do so safely. To do business safely, the key public health requirements require businesses to maintain hygiene measures, including physical distancing, hand washing and regularly cleaning of surfaces.
It will provide assistance of up to $100,000 to businesses employing 50 or fewer full-time equivalent employees.
This one page summary by Ashurst in Australia sets out the key issues for employers to consider now:
