On 21 July 2020, the Federal government announced an extension to the JobKeeper scheme from 28 September 2020 until March 2021. You can read all about the extension here.

However, to date there hasn’t been confirmation that the JobKeeper enabling directions introduced as amendments to the Fair Work Act, on 9 April 2020, will also be extended beyond the initial JobKeeper 28 September 2020 date.

The JobKeeper enabling directions allow employers to give certain directions to employees, about changing their hours of work, location of work, duties and usual days/times of work, if that employee is the recipient of JobKeeper payments. Read all about the JobKeeper enabling directions here.

An extension of the JobKeeper scheme until March 2021, albeit with reduced payments, signals that Australian businesses still need extensive support to get through the financial impacts of COVID-19 and in fact, the general consensus is that it will take years for the global economy to recover from COVID-19. It therefore makes sense that the JobKeeper enabling directions will also extend beyond their current expiration date of 28 September 2020. Watch this space for confirmation.