"The passage through Parliament of the extension of JobKeeper beyond the end of September is a very welcome relief for the many employers whose operations are suffering from sharply reduced sales as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Extending JobKeeper will mean they can keep more employees in work and connected to their business," Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the national employer association Ai Group said today.
"Ai Group strongly supports the two-tiered nature of the wage subsidy approach that will apply from the end of September to the end of March next year. This will help reduce the severity of a range of anomalies and work disincentives in the initial arrangements that saw many employees entitled to receive more from JobKeeper than they would normally expect to receive in wages.
"Ai Group also welcomes the extension of the short-term flexibility measures in the Fair Work Act, until late-March. The provisions are playing a vital role in allowing businesses to adjust the working hours, work locations and work duties of their employees, in order to save as many jobs as possible.
"We thank the Government for the consultation in the development of the legislation," Mr Willox said.
