Yahoo Finance 450,000 Aussies go back to work: JobMaker Hiring Credits explained
Young Australians have been given a leg up by the Government by way of the JobMaker Hiring Credits, which will see employers be given funds to subsidise eligible employee’s wages.
The $4 billion wage subsidy scheme is designed to get around 450,000 unemployed Australians back into work, after millions of young Australians were forced out of jobs as a result of Covid-19.
Yahoo Finance breaks down the new JobMaker scheme.
What are JobMaker Hiring Credits?
The JobMaker Hiring Credits have a similar function to JobKeeper, and will, in effect, replace JobMaker once the scheme ends in March.
They are a wage subsidy, meaning that for each eligible employee hired by a business, that business will receive between $100 and $200 per week depending on the age of the employee.
Here’s how it works:
If you are aged 16 to 29, your employer will receive $200 per week for hiring you.
If you are aged 30 to 35, your employer will receive $100 per week for hiring you.
It works out to around $10,400 per year for each new employee.
Also read: Budget 2020: New ‘JobKeeper’ for young, jobless Aussies
Also read: Who the Budget forgot
Who is eligible for the Hiring Credits?
The Hiring Credits are only available to Australians aged 16 to 35 who have received JobSeeker, Youth Allowance or the Parenting Payment for at least one of the previous three months at the time of hiring.
Employees must also work at least 20 paid hours per week on average for each three-month reporting period, and they must have been employed between 7 October 2020 and 6 October 2021.
Eligible employees also need to be in their first year of employment with this employer. That means no existing employees can receive the JobMaker Hiring Credit - it’s only for new employees of that business.
When can employers access the Hiring Credits?
The Hiring Credits are available to employers who hire eligible employees from 7 October.
However, registrations for the payment do not open until 7 December 2020, and claims for payments can’t be submitted until 1 February 2021.
The payments will be paid quarterly in arrears, meaning employers who hire an eligible employee in October won’t actually receive the subsidy until March next year.
Can employers claim JobMaker Hiring Credits and JobKeeper?
In short, no.
To be eligible to claim JobMaker Hiring Credits, an employer cannot already be claiming JobKeeper.
Can I get two sets of JobMaker Hiring Credits?
Again, no you can’t. If you are employed with one business and receive Hiring Credits via that business, another business cannot claim Hiring Credits should they choose to employ you.
Who do JobMaker Hiring Credits leave behind?
Anyone under 16 or over 35 cannot access the Hiring Credits, which means there’s no real incentive to hire an unemployed Aussie over the age of 35.
Also, given the subsidy is only available to new employees, there’s nothing stopping employers sacking existing employees for cheaper new ones.
Co-founder of hiring optimisation platform, Shortlyster, Carl Hartmann said the rate was too low to actually help any businesses pay for employees.
“The JobMaker Hiring Credit will be paid at a rate too low to seriously help any business pay the wage of a skilled worker, of which there is high demand for amongst small to medium businesses and this ranges from everything from tech engineers, accountants, marketeers, IT and business professionals,” Hartmann said.
“From our own data on the Australian National Talent Registry, we’ve seen hundreds of white collar skilled applicants per advertised role, reinforcing the fact that this is a group we need to be helping back into work not just tradespeople and manufacturing.”
Make your money work with Yahoo Finance’s daily newsletter. Sign up here and stay on top of the latest money, news and tech news.
Follow Yahoo Finance Australia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Are you a millennial or Gen Z-er interested in joining a community where you can learn how to take control of your money? Join us at The Broke Millennials Club on Facebook!
