By Brett Feltham and Nathan Keats -
Snapshot
- The JobMaker Hiring Credit scheme commenced on 7 October 2020 and is designed to give businesses incentives to employ younger, unemployed job seekers.
- Eligible employers will be able to claim $200 a week for each additional eligible employee they hire who is aged 16-29 (to a maximum credit of $10,400), and $100 a week for each additional eligible employee who is aged 30-35 (to a maximum credit of $5,200).
- An employer is disqualified from the scheme if it terminates the employment or reduces the ordinary hours of work of an employee for the sole or dominant purpose of obtaining or increasing a JobMaker hiring credit payment. This may not capture decisions by employers to reorganise their workforces.
The JobMaker scheme commenced on 7 October 2020 and is available to employers for each new job they create over the next 12 months for which they hire an eligible young person, aged 16 to 35. The JobMaker scheme targets the creation of new jobs, as opposed to keeping existing roles alive. JobMaker payments cannot be claimed for existing employees. The complex rules of the scheme are set out in the Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Payments and Benefits) Rules 2020 together with the JobMaker Hiring Credit Reporting Obligations Instrument 2020.
Eligible employers will be able to receive JobMaker payments for up to 12 months for each new role created and for which they hire an eligible employee. The scheme will close to new participants on 7 October 2021. Eligible employers who hire an eligible employee on 6 October 2021, being the last day that the scheme is open to new entrants, could then be eligible to receive JobMaker payments for 12 months up until 6 October 2022.
The JobMaker Hiring Credit is claimed quarterly in arrears from the Australian Taxation Office (‘ATO’) by an employer, commencing from 1 February 2021. Employers will need to report to the ATO quarterly that they continue to meet the eligibility criteria.
Registration and making a claim
Employers have been able to register for the JobMaker scheme online with the ATO since 7 December 2020. Employers do not need to be registered at the time they hire a new employee in order to be eligible to participate in the scheme. Registration simply has to occur before a claim for payment is made.
Employers have also been able to submit claims since 1 February 2021 for new roles created in the first reporting period ending 6 January 2021. Employers will generally have 3 months in which to submit claims, following the opening of the relevant claim period. The JobMaker payment will be paid to an eligible employer quarterly in arrears, and not to employees. Employers will need to carry the full cost of any new employees until they receive the JobMaker payment.
Which employers are eligible?
In order for an employer to be eligible to receive the JobMaker Hiring Credit for an employee, they must:
- be registered for the scheme – employers who are currently participating in JobKeeper 2.0 and receiving payments for eligible employees will not be able to receive JobMaker payments;
