Under the new rules commencing on the 3rd of August 2020, the definition of eligible employees was expanded to include the following:

Eligible Employees

To meet the 1 July test you must satisfy all of the following on 1 July 2020:

You were employed by the eligible employer (or another entity in their wholly owned group), either as a;

• Non-casual employee (whether full-time, part-time or fixed term)
• Long-term casual employee (employed on a regular and systematic basis during the 12 month period that ended 1 July) and you were not a permanent employee of any other employer.

Therefore if the employer has employees who fit within this definition, they must offer the JobKeeper payment to these employees. It’s not an option to leave them out.

Nomination forms will need to be signed and returned by the employees and top-up payments, if applicable, need to be paid by the 31st August 2020.

For more information visit; https://www.ato.gov.au/general/JobKeeper-Payment/