Off the back of the ‘employment retention’ success that has been the JobKeeper scheme, the Australian Government has continued it’s focus and momentum in ensuring businesses are engaging as many Australians as possible.
The JobMaker Hiring Credit scheme is set to reward businesses that hire new employees by offering ongoing payments, thus assisting to subsidise a portion of an employee’s salary. With the opinion splitting JobKeeper scheme being phased out at the end of March, businesses will be searching for all viable options to ensure profitability and longevity in what has been a turbulent past 12 months. As with all schemes, there are quite a few eligibility criteria for both the business and the potential new employee, some of which we’ve broken down below.
Key Points
Eligible employers can access the JobMaker Hiring Credit for each eligible additional employee they hire between 7 October 2020 and 6 October 2021.
The JobMaker Hiring Credit will be:
- $200 per week for each eligible employee aged 16 to 29
- $100 per week for each eligible employee aged 30 to 35.
For the employer to be eligible, new employees must:
- be aged 16 to 35 years
- be in receipt of income support payments (such as JobSeeker Payment, Youth Allowance (Other), or Parenting Payment) for at least one of the three months before they were hired
An employer cannot claim JobKeeper and JobMaker Hiring Credit at the same time.
The employer must also meet the minimum criteria:
- be registered for pay as you go (PAYG) withholding
- has not claimed JobKeeper payments for a fortnight that started during the relevant JobMaker period
- is up to date with income tax and GST returns for the two years up to the end of the JobMaker period for which they are claiming
- Must satisfy a payroll and headcount increase condition
For a full breakdown of the scheme, eligibility criteria and further resources, see the ATO’s JobMaker Hiring Credit page
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