On 9 April 2020, temporary JobKeeper provisions were added to the Fair Work Act 2009. These provisions are called JobKeeper directions & agreements and apply once an employer qualifies for the JobKeeper scheme and receives JobKeeper payments for an eligible employee.
New temporary provisions have also been added to the Fair Work Act 2009 for employers who were previously entitled to JobKeeper payments for an employee (legacy employers).
A legacy employer is an employer who previously qualified for the JobKeeper scheme but no longer qualifies, or chooses not to participate, from 28 September 2020.
The JobKeeper provisions are different for employers currently eligible to receive JobKeeper payments and employers who were previously eligible for JobKeeper payments.
The temporary JobKeeper provisions in the Fair Work Act 2009 give the Fair Work Commission power to deal with disputes about JobKeeper directions and agreements.
The Commission also has limited power to help with disputes about how the JobKeeper payment is being passed on to an employee. The Commission could express an opinion or make a recommendation about how JobKeeper payments are passed on. The Commission doesn’t have power to make orders about JobKeeper payments.
Under section 789GV of the Fair Work Act 2009, the Commission may deal with a dispute about the operation of Part 6-4C.
The Commission can only deal with JobKeeper disputes when the Fair Work Act 2009 gives it power to.
The Commission cannot deal with disputes about whether an employer or employee is eligible for JobKeeper payments or give advice about whether an employee is an eligible employee. The Australian Taxation Office administers the JobKeeper payment scheme. It can provide information about who is eligible for JobKeeper payments.
The Commission does not have power to make orders about payment of JobKeeper payments.
The Fair Work Ombudsman can help with:
If you are not sure whether the Commission has the power to deal with your problem, please visit our JobKeeper help page to find out who can help.
You can make a JobKeeper dispute application if you are:
The Commission can only deal with disputes between employees and employers covered by the national workplace relations laws.
The JobKeeper disputes benchbook is a an overview of the Commission’s legal procedure relating to the JobKeeper jurisdiction. It includes checklists about JobKeeper enabling directions and jurisdictional issues in relation to JobKeeper dispute
Download and complete the Form F13A – Application for the Commission to deal with a JobKeeper dispute (coronavirus economic response).
Email your completed form to COVID19Applications@fwc.gov.au. If you have any supporting evidence, please also include this in your email.
Try to fill out your application form as accurately as possible. Mistakes in application forms can cause delays dealing with your JobKeeper dispute. You can look at our sample Form F13A application forms to help you fill out your form correctly.
The Commission deals with JobKeeper dispute applications quickly. We will contact you about your application within 1 business day of you lodging it.
Commission staff will check your application to make sure it includes all the information we need. We will contact you if anything is missing.
Then a Commission Member will decide how to deal with your JobKeeper dispute. This often involves holding a telephone or video conference or hearing. The Commission Member will run the conference or hearing and it will include you and a person from the other side.
Commission Members can direct the people involved in a JobKeeper dispute to provide more information in writing. Sometimes a Commission Member will make a decision based on written material only.
All of the people involved in the JobKeeper dispute need to have all of the information. This helps us to deal with disputes fairly. The Commission will give copies of the application form and all submissions and evidence it receives about a case to both sides. If you are concerned about particular information being passed on, please contact us before sending it. The Commission can’t deal with disputes confidentially.
There is a flowchart of the process in our JobKeeper benchbook.
The Commission can deal with a JobKeeper dispute by:
An order is a ruling made by the Commission Member after they hear the dispute. Anyone bound by an order must comply with it.
A Commission Member can make any order they think is appropriate. This could include an order that:
JobKeeper orders will not apply after 29 March 2021. However, the Commission can still deal with JobKeeper disputes after 29 March 2021.
It is important that JobKeeper disputes are resolved quickly to provide certainty and allow employers and employees to move on as soon as possible.
We have implemented the following timeframes as benchmarks for the JobKeeper dispute jurisdiction:
The Commission is to finalise:
*These benchmarks apply to applications lodged between 8am and 8pm (AEST) on Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.
These benchmarks will be reviewed and updated as we continue to monitor and improve our performance.