This article compiles all the information currently available about JobKeeper for your account.
JCurve Payroll have now completed the JobKeeper automation and version 20.1.04 is ready for release this weekend starting after-hours on 01/05/2020.
If you have previously requested the JobKeeper update prior to and including on 01/05/2020 then your account will be automatically updated to this version. You DO NOT need to request the update again and you should see that you are on version 20.1.04 post update.
If you still have pay runs for prior periods that require JobKeeper TopUp then these should be corrected prior to enacting any of the steps within the automation. Please email JCurve Support with full details of your situation including period and pay dates and affected employee numbers so we can best advise on solutions.
I - Legislative Elements for JobKeeper
In order to understand your obligations, please read all legislative elements below including the information on linked pages:
1. You must understand your eligibility as an employer.
https://www.ato.gov.au/general/jobkeeper-payment/employers/eligible-employers/
2. You must understand which of your employees are eligible.
https://www.ato.gov.au/General/JobKeeper-Payment/Employers/Your-eligible-employees/
3. You must identify which of your employees you are claiming this for. This is your decision.
4. You must notify those employees you intend to nominate them,
https://www.ato.gov.au/general/jobkeeper-payment/employers/your-eligible-employees/#Nominatingemployees and if they agree have them complete the JobKeeper employee nomination notice by the end of April.
You may also create your own employee nomination form.
5. You must enrol and apply for JobKeeper payment subsidy.
6. You need to pay your existing employees who earn over $1,500 equivalent per fortnight normally, including Super.
** For these employees the JobKeeper payment is NOT shown separately on the payslip or reported separately to the ATO.
7. You need to pay your eligible employees at least the minimum amount of $1,500, even if you re-hire them or they earn less than this per fortnight. You must pay the minimum $1,500 before tax to each eligible employee per fortnight to claim the JobKeeper payment for that fortnight.
https://www.ato.gov.au/general/jobkeeper-payment/employers/paying-your-eligible-employees/
**Considering any arrangements you may already have in place with your employees due to the current situation.
II - Setup for JobKeeper
- Contact our Support team: support@jcurve.com.au with your account number to request an update of the Payroll bundle. The update will occur overnight unless you advise you need the update today (which requires you to stay out of payroll for 30 minutes). Important Note: if you have already requested the previous JobKeeper update then your account will be automatically updated to version 20.1.04 starting 01/05/2020.
- Once you receive confirmation from us that the update has been done, There is now a new menu option at the bottom of the list that should assist you in managing this requirement and new pay component subtypes will be created.
- Stand Down Leave AU Stand Down Leave (no value posts to this leave)
- JobKeeper with super AU JobKeeper Payment with Super
- JobKeeper without super AU JobKeeper Payment no Super
3. Decide if you will pay Super on the top up amounts
It will be up to the employer to decide if they want to pay superannuation on any additional wage paid because of the JobKeeper Payment. For employees who are paid normally (over $1,500 per fortnight equivalent) you must continue to pay Super as normal even if you are claiming the JobKeeper subsidy for them.
Go to Payroll Admin > Payroll Setup > Pay Component Sub Types
- Select and edit the subtype you wish to use. (Either "AU JobKeeper Payment no Super" or "AU JobKeeper Payment with Super")
- Change the name to JOBKEEPER-TOPUP and select your preferred "P&L account". Save.
- Make the OTHER JobKeeper subtype inactive so as not to cause confusion and save. DO NOT MAKE THE SUB TYPE YOU HAVE RENAMED INACTIVE
- You may also like to rename Stand Down Leave remove the "AU"
*** DO NOT USE JOBKEEPER-START-FN and JOBKEEPER-FINISH-FN because this is solely for STP reporting.
4. Update Nominated employees:
You can run the search "AU JobKeeper Employee Eligibility Review: Results" from the JobKeeper (AU) menu. If you don't see employees in this search that you expect to nominate then you may need to update them as per the screenshot below.
NOTE: The search is just a guide based on our best understanding of the criteria.
If you have employees that are not meant to be there then you need to ensure they are not updated. Or you can update the employee first...maybe they need a termination date or should be inactive?
If someone is not on the list and you want to nominate them then you can either review the employee record to see what is different from the others and update accordingly or you can manually set the field on the tax info tab. 
Stand Down: Where the JobKeeper payment is the same each payrun, on the Employee Record you can create an Allowance Pay component for the regular JobKeeper payment. If you mark it as Variable it will also appear in the Variable Pay Components.
Top Up: If your JobKeeper payment will be a top up and may change each payrun do not create an allowance.
• Employees earning over $1500 per fortnight equivalent are paid normally so there is no top-up payment required. However we still need to update them to identify them as nominated employees and select a top-up sub type in case their pay drops below $1,500 per fortnight equivalent. This ensures any changes that may occur in their pay over the 13 fortnights of the JobKeeper payment are catered for in advance.
• To clarify, ALL NOMINATED EMPLOYEES you wish to claim the subsidy for must have a top-up sub type set on the tax info tab to identify them as one of your nominated employees. This is our primary identification mechanism for STP reporting. This is regardless of if they will need a top-up payment currently or not.
NOTE: It is entirely your responsibility to ensure the criteria you use is correct for your organisation. You may have custom employment statuses or variations such as contractors who are employees, you will need to update the criteria accordingly to ensure your nominated employees are updated. Contact support with full details if you need assistance with this.
The system is currently unable to determine this requirement for casuals.
"Casual employees are not eligible unless they were employed by you on a regular and systematic basis for at least 12 months as at 1 March 2020."
To assist you with this criteria we have added a search to the JobKeeper (AU) menu called "AU JobKeeper Casual Payslip Review: Results" This search shows the number of payslips and total taxable income for your eligible casuals since 1/3/2019.
5. Reduced Pay
If employees have changes to their pay conditions such as reduced pay or hours, create a new Salary / Wages Pay Component on their Employee record to reflect the new pay. Also consider any allowances and deductions.
III - Processing a Pay Run
Stand Down Leave
- On the Time Entry page add a Stand Down time entry line for each affected employee. Enter the number of stand down hours to reduce the normal time. Submit
- If you have created Variable Pay Components these will appear next. Check & Submit
- For all nominated employees, when payslips are processed, the system will automatically create a top-up payslip detail for those employees with a taxable income below $1,500 per fortnight equivalent. IE $750 weekly and $3,250 Monthly. The top-up will be reported via STP as "JOBKEEPER-TOPUP" and the relevant YTD amount. Submit.
- On the Approve page check that each employee is receiving at least $1500. If they are receiving a top up ensure they are not receiving more than $1500.
View the payslip and edit as required. If for any reason, you need to adjust the top-up line created , Edit the Pay Component on the payslip , then recalculate with "IGNORE JOBKEEPER" ticked. - Complete the pay run as per usual.
Other Leave Types (where the employee pay components have not been changed)
- On the Time Entry page add a leave time entry line for each affected employee to reduce their normal time eg Unpaid Leave, Annual Leave, etc.
- Complete the pay run as per usual.
IV - Questions / Answers
Q1 - Are there other common variations or is it just either pay replacement / pay top up?
Right now the scenarios are paying the employee their normal pay which is above $1500 per fortnight and getting the subsidy, or the pay top up scenario to meet the requirements of claiming the subsidy.
Q2 - What if an employer was already paying JobKeeper through a manually created pay component? Is there any new fields that would get marked on this pay component after the bundle was loaded or any thing extra an employer might need to do?
If an employer has been using their own subtype then, they should just rename theirs to JOBKEEPER-TOPUP which is the description that the ATO needs and make the standard JobKeeper pay components inactive.
Q3 - Is the bundle load an overnight occurrence or same day?
If an employer needs it same day it can be done but must be specified in the request and they must be logged out of payroll at the time, otherwise it will be done overnight.
Q4 - Do we need to use JobKeeper Start / Finish pay components?
No this will be generated when the reporting update will be done.
Q5 - What about reporting STP?
When payslips are processed for the first time after the automation and you have updated your employees, the system will also create the JOBKEEPER-START-FN payslip detail. This is the key STP reporting requirement for you to notify ATO you are claiming the subsidy for each employee. It will only be created once.
Reporting STP when there are no more payruns for April? After the bundle update a zero payrun can be used to send an STP event.
Q6 - What if I haven't paid my employees JobKeeper?
To be eligible for the JobKeeper subsidy all employees must be paid no later than 8th May** 2020 (see legislation links for more detail). To Process create a separate adjustment payrun for each pay period in April to pay these employees. Running a single adjustment payrun will cause the employee to be over taxed.
** Update 28/4/20 - The ATO extended the date from 30th April to 8th May
Q7 - Will I always have to manually calculate the Top Up?
When payslips are processed, the system will automatically create a top-up payslip detail for nominated employees.
Q8 - What if my employees are still being paid > $1500 and I want to claim the JobKeeper subsidy?
For employees who are paid normally (over $1,500 per fortnight equivalent), Update the AU Jobkeeper Payment Type field on their employee record (step 4), and continue to pay as normal even if you are claiming the JobKeeper subsidy for them.
Q9 - Can I add top-up for termination payslips?
Termination payslips will not be adjusted automatically for the top-up. The system will not check if the employee has already received the top-up in another pay run so you must manually add any top-up amount to a termination payslip using your JOBKEEPER-TOPUP sub type if applicable.
When an employee terminates you will also need to add a payslip detail to notify the ATO via STP that you are no longer claiming the JobKeeper subsidy for them. The sub type you need to use is JOBKEEPER-FINISH-FN and should have been created by the system. The amount should be 0.00. You can select this Allowance and add to any termination payslip. We will then report this to the ATO including the fortnight number based on the reportable date of the pay run.
Q10 - I CURRENTLY HAVE A SALARY SACRIFICE ARRANGEMENT WITH MY EMPLOYER. CAN IT CONTINUE?
Yes. The JobKeeper Payment may be paid to an employee in cash or as a fringe benefit or an extra superannuation contribution where the employee and employer agree