I am a casual worker that has received JobSeeker (Newstart) (Single Parent) for a while now and before the COVID stuff even came into play. My job has ceased for the time being but I have gotten more work at another job and working more hours then what I was at my other job. The employer is applying for JobKeeper which we are eligible for but I don't need to do because of work with the other job. My dilemma is that I will be earning more money on JobKeeper making me ineligible for the JobSeeker payment but when the JobKeeker payment finishes then I will have to reapply for the JobSeeker payment as the wage is no where near what it will be with the JobKeeper payment. As it sits now if I stay on JobSeeker and not collect JobKeeper it will be costing the government less money as my earning come into play with JobSeeker payments. I can’t get a clear answer from the ATO or Centrelink on what to do and it is infuriating! Can I opt to stay on JobSeeker and not do JobKeeper because of these reasons? Does anyone know the answers? I called Centrelink and they said the JobKeeper has to be reported as an income if you receive a income support payment but the Centrelink website says you can only receive JobKeeper or JobSeeker. I pointed this out to the person on the phone and all he said was i don't know but you should go off what the website says. So confused as to what needs to be done!
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When I was on jobseeker payments and my income increased making me ineligible for payments, I was still expected to keep reporting my hours because I wasn't in full time employment, so if I lost hours or work I was still on it. I would say this is how it will work for you, jobkeeper will be your income, it will be too much for job seeker to top you up but you will still be attached to it, not cut off completely.
OP here. I understand you keep reporting but you can only report zero income for 6 fortnights before it cuts the JS payment off so I would still have to reapply at the end of it all. I have been in that situation before when I was with my ex.
That's 12 weeks? There's a good chance the business won't be closed that long.
Could you just advise your workplace that you don't want to receive jobkeeper? They're the ones that pay you and then the government reimburses them
I was asking if anyone else knew because of the confusion of everything. I have spoken to my boss and she is also unsure and still looking into the ins and outs of it al as well. I posted on the ATO forum also and a moderator says I can tick the no box on the form that the employees have to fill out and sign for the employer to receive the JK payment. Thanks to those who have replied to my post.
Your employer will give you a nomination form that is from the ato, if you tick the no box, you will not get job keeper payments. However, you have to think about weather your employer is relying on these payments to keep there staff on. This could result in you actually losing hours because the income you will take home will be coming out of the businesses bank account not from the ato. Whilst I don't know your circumstances, I am working with someone who sounds like she was in a similar boat. She could work for $1500 (before tax) per fortnight or stay home and get job seeker + ftb + jobseekers stimulus and take home the same amount. She chose to return to work to benefit her mental health in the long run.
I made the decision to not accept jobkeeper. There is a section on the jobkeeper form where you can say no.
I calculated the impact it would have on my jobseeker, my health care conceccion card and my FTB and the fact that you only get 1300 due to tax. I also had to consider the impact on my partners job seeker and FTB as well.
As a single parent your restrictions on what you can earn may be higher though.
All of the staff on jobkeeper at my work have now been asked to return to work in small groups to do cleaning, organising, paperwork and training as my boss figures if she is paying them she may as well make use of them even though we cannot perform our swim teacher jobs.
I am exempt from this as i declined jobkeeper and training is optional which means I can stay home with my kids and do their homeschooling. Having been in the industry for 20 years my boss is not too concerned about me missing training but is also doing some at home theory training we can choose to look at if we want to. And with the bonus stimulus of 550 a fortnight added to our jobseeker now we end up better as a family staying on job seeker (partner doesn't have the option of jobkeeper).
Also if you select jobkeeper your other job will be taxed extra as a second job also (which I presume you already do).
Good luck doing the calculations. Use the centrelink website as a guide and see how it impacts each payment.