Important program updates from 1 July 2021 v1

• In the 2021-22 Queensland State Budget, the Back to Work (BTW) program was extended with additional funding of up to $140 million over four years for a revitalised BTW program to provide businesses the confidence to employ Queenslanders who have experienced a period of unemployment and help workers facing disadvantage in the labour market.
• The revitalised BTW program will continue to give businesses the confidence to employ Queenslanders who have experienced a period of unemployment. Support payments are available to eligible employers who hire a previously unemployed Queenslander who had experienced a minimum period of unemployment directly prior to commencing work with them.
• The program will be available throughout regional Queensland and select South East Queensland (SEQ) local government areas (LGA). The BTW support payments can be used for a broad range of purposes, for instance, the purchasing of PPE, acquisition of business assets, upskilling and retraining staff, other business development activities and so on.
• The revitalised BTW program now focusses on intensive support for jobseekers, employers and their employees.
• The revitalised BTW program supports targeted cohorts including: youth, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people with disability and long term unemployed.
• By changing the focus to a program that combines targeted, intensive support for people from disadvantaged and vulnerable cohorts, the revitalised program will create genuine, long-term employment outcomes.
• The revitalised BTW program will have two types of employer incentive payments: Youth Boost and the Back to Work support payment. Employers who hire an eligible young person (aged 15 – 24 years old) may receive up to $20,000. Employers who hire an eligible person from the following targeted cohorts (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, person with a disability and long term unemployed person) may receive up to $15,000.
• The revitalised BTW program will deliver targeted employer wage incentives and a suite of wrap around supports including: the pre-employment support program, the Jobseeker Support Pool, small business short courses, the Small Business Support Pool, and the Pilot Programs Fund.
• Funding by financial year for the revitalised program is up to $35 million per annum.

The previous Back to Work program provided employer support payments, the revitalised Back to Work program provides more intensive support to employers and disadvantaged jobseekers.

Employers will have access to two support payments:

• Youth Boost ($20,000): For a jobseeker (aged between 15-24 years) previously unemployed for a minimum of eight weeks
• Back to Work Support Payment ($15,000): For a jobseeker from the identified targeted groups previously unemployed for a minimum of eight weeks*

*Other eligibility criteria apply.

If you have employed someone from 1 July 2021, your application will be assessed under the Back to Work Guidelines for Employer Incentives 2021-22.

Please be aware that the eligibility criteria for this program will be different from the previous Back to Work program.

If you have employed someone up to and including 30 June 2021, your application will be assessed under the Back to Work Guidelines for Funding 2020-21.

Initial payment applications must be received within eight weeks of the employee completing four weeks of continuous employment.

Applicants who employed someone by 30 June 2021, may submit a later payment application.

Later payment applications will continue to be assessed under the Back to Work Guidelines for Funding 2020-21as they become due in the next financial year.

If you have employed someone up to and including 30 June 2021, your application will be assessed under the Back to Work Guidelines for Funding 2020-21.

Initial payment applications must be received within eight weeks of the employee completing four weeks of continuous employment.

If your initial claim was approved under the Back to Work Guidelines for Funding 2020-21, your later payment claim will continue to be assessed under these guidelines as they become due in the 2021-22 financial year.

All requests for consideration of late application requests for applications under the Back to Work Guidelines for Funding 2020-21 must be received by 30 September 2021.

Requests received after this time will not be able to be considered.

All employers will be able to apply for support except for government entities, government owned corporations and statutory bodies. Eligibility criteria applies.

Note: eligibility criteria may change with Guidelines published on the Back to Work website on 1 July 2021.

All employers are eligible except for government entities (local, state and Australian governments and entities including government-owned corporations and statutory bodies).

Employers must:

• Be compliant with workplace health and safety, industrial relations and taxation legislation; and
• Demonstrate a genuine commitment to ongoing employment of the employee.
• If the employer is an unincorporated association or trust, evidence is provided that the individual who is entering into the contract is operating under the rules and authority of the unincorporated association or trust while contracting with the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training.

Note: eligibility criteria may change with Guidelines published on the Back to Work website on 1 July 2021.

An eligible job must be mainly located in regional Queensland or the following South East Queensland local government areas:

• Ipswich
• Lockyer Valley
• Logan
• Moreton Bay
• Scenic Rim

The job must be either:

• Ongoing paid full-time (at least 35 hours per week on average); or
• Ongoing paid part-time (at least 20 hours per week on average, or for a person with a disability, who has a workplace assessment to work between 8 and 20 hours per week, hours consistent with their approved benchmark on average).

Note: eligibility criteria may change with Guidelines published on the Back to Work website on 1 July 2021.

Ineligible jobs under the revitalised Back to Work program include:

• A casual job (i.e. may not have guaranteed hours of work each week; may involve working irregular hours; does not provide paid sick or annual leave). Further information can be found at Fair Work.
• Periodic employment such as engagements that are short term in nature (e.g. weekly hire basis)
• Employees transitioning from casual or periodic employment to ongoing part-time or full-time work.
• Indirect employment relationships where the employee is contracted through a labour hire arrangement (e.g. when you contract another business to provide you with workers). This may include arrangements through group training organisations where the apprentice or trainee is not directly employed by the Back to Work applicant.

Note: eligibility criteria may change with Guidelines published on the Back to Work website on 1 July 2021.

Eligible employees for a Back to Work Employer Incentive payment:

• must be from one of the following cohorts:
  • a person who identifies as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person
  • Person with a disability
  • Long-term unemployed person (has been previously unemployed for 52 weeks).
• must have been unemployed for a minimum period of eight weeks directly prior to commencing employment with the eligible employer with the exception of employing a long-term unemployed person.
• The eligible minimum unemployment period for a long-term unemployed person is 52 weeks.
• Must be a permanent resident of Australia and their principal place of residency is in Queensland
• Must not have worked for the eligible employer in the 52 weeks directly prior to commencing employment with the eligible employer
• Must have commenced employment with the eligible employer from 1 July 2021
• At the time the initial payment application is made, must have been in paid employment with the eligible employer for at least four weeks but not more than 12 weeks and
• Is not currently and was not a full-time student within the four weeks immediately prior to commencing employment with the eligible employer
• Must not have displaced any existing workers.

Note: eligibility criteria may change with Guidelines published on the Back to Work website on 1 July 2021.

Eligible employees for a Back to Work Employer Incentive payment:

• must be from the following cohort:
  • young person (aged between 15-24 years)
• must have been unemployed for a minimum period of eight weeks directly prior to commencing employment with the eligible employer with the exception of employing a long-term unemployed person.
• Must be a permanent resident of Australia and their principal place of residency is in Queensland
• Must not have worked for the eligible employer in the 52 weeks directly prior to commencing employment with the eligible employer
• Must have commenced employment with the eligible employer from 1 July 2021
• At the time the initial payment application is made, must have been in paid employment with the eligible employer for at least four weeks but not more than 12 weeks and
• Is not currently and was not a full-time student within the four weeks immediately prior to commencing employment with the eligible employer
• Must not have displaced any existing workers.

Note: eligibility criteria may change with Guidelines published on the Back to Work website on 1 July 2021.

An ineligible employee for the revitalised Back to Work program includes if the employee is:

• An owner of the company, business or joint venture applying for the Back to Work payment; or
• A sole trader applying for the Back to Work payment; or
• A partner in a partnership applying for the Back to Work payment; or
• A director of the company applying for the Back to Work payment; or
• A significant shareholder in the company (owns 50% or more shares) applying for the Back to Work payment; or
• An owner under a trust arrangement, applying for the Back to Work payment. This may include the trustee, a beneficiary under the trust and/or being an owner of a directly controlled or related entity.

Note: eligibility criteria may change with Guidelines published on the Back to Work website on 1 July 2021.

When applying for Back to Work incentive payments, it is important that your application is supported by documentary evidence that has been witnessed by an independent authorised person.

The evidence requested to support your application or later payment claim helps determine your eligibility for the program and protects applicants against potential fraud or identity theft. Documents submitted as evidence must be witnessed (i.e. certified by an authorised person) to authenticate them as true and correct at the time of submission.

Details of who is an authorised witness to certify copies of original evidence documents can be found at https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2018L01296.

The authorised person must visually sight the original evidence documents and check that there are no alterations to the copies presented to them. The authorised person must pay particular attention to names, dates and reference numbers.

The authorised person then endorses the copies with the following certification:

This is to certify that this is a true and correct copy of the original document, which I have sighted.

Date:

Signature of authorised witness:

Name of authorised witness:

Title of authorised witness (as per Statutory Declarations Regulations 2018):

The evidence documents have been chosen specifically as they should be documents that are easily accessible for most employers.

It is important to note that the original evidence document (e.g. original driver licence) is not a certified copy. An exact copy of the original evidence document (e.g. copy of the driver licence), which has been presented to and witnessed by an independent authorised person, is a certified copy.

The application cap will be reset to zero from 1 July 2021. This means an eligible employer may make a further four applications under the revitalised BTW program. This will be subject to program eligibility.

In addition to targeted employer support payments, a new range of intensive support for employers will be available. Further information and updates on the additional supports for employers will be provided on the website.

Employers can apply for the revitalised Back to Work program from 1 July 2021 when they have employed a jobseeker from the targeted cohorts who was previously unemployed for a minimum of eight weeks.

Note: eligibility criteria may change with Guidelines published on the Back to Work website on 1 July 2021.

The revitalised BTW program will include targeted employer support payments for employers who employ young people, long term unemployed people, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and people with a disability into their business.

The revitalised BTW program will provide a new range of intensive support for jobseekers and employees who fall within the following targeted cohorts:

• Young person (aged between 15-24 years)
• A person who identifies as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person
• Person with a disability
• Long-term unemployed person (has been previously unemployed for 52 weeks).

The BTW Jobseeker Officers will also continue to provide support to jobseekers throughout Queensland.

The revitalised BTW program responds to those cohorts who experience greater labour market disadvantage to obtain employment. These cohorts also often require more intensive approach to take advantage of economic and employment opportunities.

Further information and updates on the wrap around support for jobseekers, including eligibility, will be provided on the website.

The Back to Work program will continue to be available throughout regional Queensland and in select areas of South East Queensland local government areas:

• Ipswich
• Lockyer Valley
• Logan
• Moreton Bay
• Scenic Rim
• Somerset