How to Protect your staff and business during unpredictable times

As you are all probably aware by now, the government has announced further measures to help businesses impacted by Covid-19.  Such measures include the newly announced wage subsidy (JobKeeper payment), cash benefits for eligible businesses, loan guarantee schemes, Increased asset write-off threshold, and early access to superannuation.

Depending on the structure of your business, your eligibility for each of the packages can be difficult to navigate.  Firstly, if you have not already, we suggest that you read over the information on the federal government website (www.business.gov.au) to try and get a feel for what support is on offer.  Remember, the more information you have the better off you will be.  Secondly, we recommend that you speak with your accountant and/or financial planner to discover exactly what assistance you qualify for.

Through all the recent announcements, the federal Government’s attention appears to be focused on strengthening the safety net of individuals, families and business as well as trying to minimise the need to utilise such safeguards. The measures applied by the Morrison government indicate that they are actively looking at strategies to minimise the impact of Covid-19 on businesses, but they alone cannot combat this situation.  The Prime Minister declared in his announcements on Sunday night that they are needing businesses to rethink their business models. “We’re asking businesses to adapt to what is not a usual set of circumstances. They must be sustainable because they will run for, we believe, at least six months and we want to be able to get everybody through”.  The government also announced today the substantial news of the wage subsidies now available to businesses impacted by the pandemic. Here’s the lowdown on the latest:

• The federal government will offer businesses a $1500-per-fortnight flat payment for every employee they have had on the books since March 1 through the Australian Taxation Office.
• Full-time and part-time workers, casuals who have served more than 12 months, and sole traders will all be eligible for the payment.
• Employees who have already been stood down should contact their employers to see if they are applying for the scheme (The company will still be eligible to re-employ you and get the subsidy if you were on the books on March 1)

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

Businesses

• Small and medium businesses that suffer a 30 per cent fall in turnover since March 1.
• Larger businesses (more than $1bn turnover) that suffer a 50 per cent fall since March 1.
• Businesses will self-assess their fall in turnover over a minimum one-month period.
• Businesses that receive the major bank levy are not eligible.

Employees

Any employee who has been on a company’s books since March 1 including:

• Full-time workers
• Part-time workers
• Casuals who have served 12 months or more
• Category 444 visa holders from New Zealand

HOW WILL IT WORK?

• Businesses can pass the subsidies to employees from now.
• Companies will be reimbursed by the Australian Taxation Office from the first week of May.
• The ATO will hand out the subsidies through monthly arrears.
• Employers can apply for JobKeeper subsidies online now at https://www.ato.gov.au/general/gen/JobKeeper-payment/
• The ATO will also ensure the subsidies get to workers, and they are not abused by employers.

We will update further details as they become available.

A few keys other measures you can do right now:

• Keep your accounts and cash flow forecasts up to date
• Lodge your March 2020 BAS quickly and ensure your payment details with the ATO are up to date
• Check in with your own personal mental health and wellbeingand that of your team.  This is a tricky time for everyone
• Stay informed