The Federal Government’s implementation of the JobKeeper scheme has allowed thousands of salon owners some relief, reimbursing them $1,500 per employee, per fortnight. The aim of the scheme was to assist business owners to keep their staff, and reducing the country’s unemployment rate. But what will happen when JobKeeper winds up at the end of September?
According to the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ABSFEO), Kate Carnell, businesses need to be planning for life after JobKeeper, now. “What they shouldn’t do is wait till then because there’s a whole range of things happening at the moment. The ATO has deferred payments for small businesses that have been affected. So many might owe the ATO, they’ve deferred them for six months, but you’ll have rent deferral payments, too. You’ll potentially have an SME guarantee loan, you’ll have to be starting to pay payments then as well,” she said.
Essentially, salon owners need to be mapping out ways that they will be able to pay their staff once the JobKeeper allowance ends, and their other bills start rolling in.
“What we’re most worried about is another spike in unemployment after September,” says business analyst Tom Denton. “Understandably, salon owners have had an incredibly quiet few months and JobKeeper may be what’s keeping them afloat at the moment. But they really need to be sending this time working out how they’re going to maintain their staff once that payment ends.”
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