JobMaker Hiring Credits, announced in the 2020-21 Budget is an incentive for businesses to employ additional young job seekers.

The scheme available to eligible employers, employing additional eligible employees between 7 October 2020 and 6 October 2021 can access the JobMaker Hiring Credits of up to:

• $200/week for each eligible additional employee aged between 16-29 year old
• $100/week for each eligible additional employee aged between 30-35 years old

For a maximum claim period of 12 months from their employment commencement date.

Payments are made in arrears every 3 months, with the 1^st JobMaker period ending 6 January 2021.

Who is an eligible EMPLOYER?

An employer is deemed eligible, if all of the following requirements are met:

• has registered for the JobMaker Hiring Credit Scheme
• either operates a business in Australia, is a no-for-profit organisation operation in Australia or is a deductible gift recipient
• holds an ABN
• is registered for PAYG Withholding
• has not claimed JobKeeper payments for a fortnight that started during the JobMaker period
• is up to date with income and GST returns for two years up to the end of the JobMaker period for which they are claiming

You must also have:

• Increased your headcount: the number of employees employed by you at the end of each JobMaker period must be higher than the number of employees on 30 September 2020 (baseline headcount), and

• Increased your payroll expense: your payroll expense each JobMaker period must have increase in comparison to 3 months ending 6 October 2020 (baseline payroll).

Who is an eligible EMPLOYEE?

Employees are eligible if:

• employed by you during the JobMaker period
• are aged 16 to 35 years when they started employment
• started employment between 7 October 2020 and 7 October 2021
• worked on average 20 hours per week in the JobMaker claim period
• have given a ‘JobMaker Hiring Credit employee notice’ to the employer
• have not given a ‘JobMaker Hiring Credit employee notice’ to another employer

They must also have:

• received parenting payment, youth allowance or JobSeeker payment for at least 2 fortnights in the 6 fortnights prior to starting employment

Please note, a business participant is not an eligible employee. A close associate including relatives is also not an eligible employee.

We advise, that while this scheme is a supportive measure for businesses; hiring based on age and requirements listed above can be considered discriminative. We recommend that you consult with you HR adviser before you make changes to your hiring process to meet the JobMaker requirements.

Need more information?

Please refer to the following Australian Taxation Office website for more information as it is released: JobMaker Hiring Credit | Australian Taxation Office (ato.gov.au)

If you have any questions regarding JobMaker and how it applies to you, please do not hesitate to contact your Altitude Adviser. We are here to help.