1st Sep 2020, 12:58 PM – Senate Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Jobkeeper Payments) Amendment Bill 2020 - in Committee - Prevent tiered payment system

The majority voted against amendments introduced by NSW Senator Mehreen Faruqi (Greens), which means they failed. Senator Faruqi explained her amendments:

This amends the Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Payments and Benefits) Act 2020 to prevent the minister from establishing a tiered payment system. While the JobKeeper bill doesn't deal specifically with tiered payments, it does extend the rule-making power which allows the minister to establish tiers. The amendment will insert a new section that specifies that the minister must not create rules for different rates of pay for different employees.

Amendment text

(1) Clause 2, page 2 (at the end of the table), add:

(2) Page 33 (after line 21), at the end of the Bill, add:

Schedule 7—Preventing tiered jobkeeper payments

Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Payments and Benefits) Act 2020

1 After section 7

Insert:

7A Requirement for rules that provide for jobkeeper payments scheme—no tiered jobkeeper payments

(1) If the rules provide for a kind of payment that is intended to assist businesses affected by the Coronavirus to cover the cost of wages of their employees (whether known as a jobkeeper payment or otherwise), the rules relating to that kind of payment (the jobkeeper scheme rules) must comply with the requirement in subsection (2).

(2) The jobkeeper scheme rules, in providing for the amount of the payment under the jobkeeper scheme, must not provide for there to be different amounts payable in relation to employees.