The following article originally appeared in ACA's Belonging Early Years Journal, Volume 9, Number 1 - April 2020.
Workplace wellbeing: Creating a strong and stable workforce is to everyone's advantage
By Catherine Jones, School of Education, Macquarie University
Within the early childhood sector, we have been grappling with the issue of staff turnover for many years, with educators moving between services or leaving the sector altogether. When we look at organisational literature, extant research has found strong associations between workplace wellbeing and employee outcomes, including turnover rates, absenteeism and productivity.
The update below has been lifted directly from an email from the Department of Education, Skills & Employment (DESE) which was sent to approved providers on Thursday 30th April 2020:
The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has confirmed a new ruling that clarifies eligibility for the JobKeeper Payment for most early childhood education and care (ECEC) services receiving the ECEC Relief Package.
More child care providers to receive the JobKeeper Payment
As part of the eligibility requirements for JobKeeper a decline in turnover test requires providers to demonstrate a fall in “GST turnover” even if an entity was not registered for GST.
Service providers that commenced operating on or after 6 April will not have a reference period to use when applying for the Early Childhood Education & Care Relief Package. Therefore these services will need to apply for the Exceptional Circumstance Supplementary Payment.
The application process is via an online form, available on the DESE website here. (Scroll down and click on the word "Application".)
ACA has received some very important advice from the Australian Tax Office (ATO) in relation to employer eligibility for the JobKeeper Payment.
The ATO has recently made a ruling that relates to how early learning service providers account for Business Continuity Payments through the month of April.
ACA's senior contact at the ATO has provided the following advice:
Further to our meeting yesterday, I can confirm that we do not consider the Business Continuity Payment and Exceptional Circumstances Supplementary Payment made by the Department of Education, Skills & Employment (DESE) to a childcare provider (under the Early Childhood Education & Care Relief Package) consideration for a supply.