Confirming your business is still eligible for JobSaver in NSW

The first fortnight was from 13 September – 26 September 2021. However some reprieve has been provided to reduce the compliance burden. The new requirements are summarised below.

Reconfirm Eligibility

Businesses must reconfirm their eligibility each fortnight, by the end of the fortnight. The first fortnight will be from 13 September – 26 September 2021.
Businesses will need to reconfirm that:

1. It has experienced a decline in turnover of 30% or more for the fortnight in comparison to:
   • The same period in 2019; or
   • The same period in 2020; or
   • The 2-week period immediately before any NSW restrictions – 12 June to 25 June 2021 (inclusive).
2. It has maintained its employee headcount as stated in its initial JobSaver application (if an employing business). Businesses will remain eligible if headcount has decreased due to reasons beyond the business’ control e.g. an employee voluntarily resigns.
3. Payments for September will continue even if eligibility is not confirmed. However, any payments after that will only be processed once eligibility is confirmed. Payments will be processed within five business days.

Comparison Period

There are three comparison periods businesses may use.

• Option 1: Same year, corresponding fortnight – turnover for the fortnight is compared to the corresponding fortnight in 2019 or 2020, whichever year was used in the initial application. The same year that was used in the initial application must be used. For example, if in your application you compared 26 July – 8 August 2021 to 26 July – 8 August 2019 and you are reconfirming eligibility for 13 September – 26 September 2021, then your comparison period will be 13 September – 26 September 2019.
• Option 2: Same comparison period – turnover for the fortnight is compared to the same comparison period used in the initial application. For example, if you initially compared 26 July – 8 August 2021 to 26 July – 8 August 2019 and you are reconfirming eligibility for 13 September – 26 September 2021, then your comparison period will remain 26 July – 8 August 2019.
• Option 3: 12 June – 25 June 2021 comparison period – if 12 June – 25 June 2021 was used in the initial application as the comparison period, this will remain fixed as your comparison period each fortnight.

What if we are not eligible for a fortnight?

If the business becomes ineligible for one fortnight, it will not be disqualified from becoming eligible again in future fortnights if the eligibility conditions are satisfied. The business will be given an opportunity to declare its eligibility for the fortnight and will not be required to re-apply.

What if we cannot reconfirm eligibility by the due date?

This should not be an issue as the option to reconfirm eligibility will remain open for each fortnightly period. Service NSW permits multiple fortnightly re-confirmations to be done in one hit (e.g. at month end, if that is when the business’ trading position is clearer using the client’s accounting software). This ‘bulk’ re-confirmation will then trigger payment of each of the relevant fortnightly payments.