JobKeeper welcomed amid fear businesses and workers will fall through the cracks

Even businesses who are eligible are struggling with cash flow issues, or if they qualify, face some of their staff missing out.

Official applications opened on Monday, but registrations of interest had been open in the weeks previously.

"Our world kind of disappeared overnight," says Darren Russell, owner and managing director of Elite Event Technology, which supplies audiovisual services and equipment to venues and events across Canberra.

When the restrictions on gatherings of more than 500 people became restrictions on events with more than 100, and then tighter again, all work the business had lined up for the future dried up.

"We had to make tough decisions pretty early, including standing down around 40 staff."

Some staff had to be made redundant, while a handful have managed to stay on with reduced part-time hours. For the two employees who the business had sponsored to come from overseas, Mr Russell has helped by getting groceries delivered to them.

Mr Russell's business is eligible for the JobKeeper wage subsidy program, where employees will be paid a flat rate of $750 a week by the government for six months during the shutdowns imposed to stop the spread of coronavirus.

But it isn't quite so simple, around 20 staff at the business aren't eligible to receive the payment, because they were casual employees who had been at the business less than 12 months, a few who were new employees starting after March 1, and two who were on temporary work visas.

"In the early days there was this shining marketing announcement but no detail," Mr Russell said.

Even with the help of industrial relations specialists and good accountants, Mr Russell said it had been difficult to navigate the system. He said the biggest sticking point for many businesses is that the payments from the Tax Office won't start flowing until May, meaning businesses must pay the employees the JobKeeper subsidy and wait to be reimbursed.

"They're asking SMEs (small to medium enterprises) to finance it a month at a time, then we'll get the money back."

While Mr Russell said his business had the cash reserves to be able to make the payment, it was a moment of trepidation when he pressed the button to approve the payments to staff on Tuesday.

He's concerned about what may happen to some businesses if there are issues when it comes time for the Tax Office to reimburse them.

There are also complications on paying superannuation for staff, many of whom are asking to be able to come back to the warehouse and do some work.

"I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth," Mr Russell said, explaining that despite the issues he is happy with the program.

"What our government has done is really quite good, we've got contacts in China, Singapore and the United States that aren't getting what we're getting."

Like Mr Russell, Kim Ohayon has this week made the first payment to her small team of staff for the JobKeeper wage subsidy, but out of her own personal savings.

Most of her team of five staff at the Pop Inn wine bar, a truck that until recently was able to pop up at events around Canberra, were eligible for the program.

"The fortunate thing is we will get the money back," Ms Ohayon said.

Most of her team have been with the business since it started three years ago.

"It was the least we could do," she said.

While Ms Ohayon was positive her business would be eligible after the first announcement, it hasn't been easy waiting for the legislation to pass and now for the program to be in action.

"The wait was nerve-wracking, because you couldn't do anything about it."

Overall, Ms Ohayon is positive about the program.

"It's given us a lifeline and the staff a lifeline."

Owner and principal of Bom Funk Dance Studio Kym Degenhart said only four of her 16 staff qualify for the program.

"The struggle has been working out the fine print," she said.

At the end of the term of dance lessons those staff will be backpaid the JobKeeper allowance, she said.

If all 16 staff members had been eligible for the payment it would have been hard to make the payments to all of them while waiting to be paid by the Tax Office, Ms Degenhart said.

While Ms Degenhart's team had worked quickly to produce online classes for students to finish term one, term two is looking "quite dismal," with only a quarter of families expressing interest in a term of online only dance lessons.

"There's definitely some holes in the package," Ms Degenhart said, explaining she was lucky to also qualify for the JobKeeper payment because of how her business is set up, while many in similar roles in the industry hadn't qualified.

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Canberra Business Chamber chief executive Graham Catt said many in the business community were struggling with the complications of the scheme.

Mr Catt said many employers didn't understand that if their business applied it was "one in all in" and that all eligible employees would be paid the subsidy, even if they wouldn't usually earn $750 a week.

"Can you direct that person to work more hours or can you direct someone to work different duties, that's caused more questions for employers about what they can and can't do if they are paying someone more than they were paying them."

Mr Catt said businesses were experiencing cash flow issues waiting for the payment to come through, but the overall response had been positive.

"It gives them options, the option to hibernate or innovate and keep going."

Responding to reports of businesses trying to exploit workers through the payments, Mr Catt said businesses shouldn't be "opportunistic" but there was also genuine confusion about rights and responsibilities with the payment.

"Its easy to talk about complexity and economics, but for small and family business especially this is about people, about staying connected," he said.