Wage Subsidy Extension criteria changed & Income Relief Payment
Posted on 16 Jun 2020
New Criteria for the Wage Subsidy Extension
Is your Revenue down at least 40% for a 30-day period in the past 40 days due to Covid-19? The Wage Subsidy Extension is available once the 12 week Wage Subsidy has ended and is available to support employers, including self-employed people, who are still significantly impacted by COVID-19. The previous criteria was to prove you had a 50% revenue loss for the 30 days before you applied. This has now been changed to 40%. If you are an NGO, not for profit, or new business without recorded revenue from 2019, you may make a comparison against a similar time period. You will need to have been in business for at least 60 days to apply for the wage subsidy extension. Tip: The 30 days should be after 10 May 2020 and within the 40 days prior to the date you apply. There is an eligibility tool here that you can use to see if you can meet the criteria.
Income Relief Payment
You may be eligible to receive the Income Relief Payment if you have lost your job (including self-employment) from the 1st March 2020 due to Covid-19. The payment is designed to help with living costs while you look for other work. You can't get this at the same time as the main benefit. More information and how to apply can be found here.
