One of the biggest issues salon owners are facing is that new staff are not eligible for the JobKeeper payments, making hiring new employees a massive financial problem in many situations.
Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell has said that the rules need to be changed as a matter of urgency, to allow business owners to replace staff members that leave.
With employees leaving in search of higher-paying jobs after the second reduction of the jobKeeper rate on January 4 forced many salon owners to cut employees’ hours.
“JobKeeper was reduced again on 4 January, 2021, and with some eligible businesses unable to afford to top up wages, they are having to reduce the hours of their staff,” she said. “It means staff are resigning to go to jobs offering more hours and pay.”
The result has been salons that are understaffed and unable to afford to re-hire to fill the positions, as business owners aren’t able to claim the payment for staff employed after July 1.
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