Prime Minister Scott Morrison recently announced a virtual doubling of unemployment payments for six months as part of the government's response to the economic crisis caused by coronavirus.

It was largely aimed at helping workers thrown out of work as their companies closed or cut operations.

The $550 per fortnight increase took the maximum base fortnightly rate to $1115.70.

The Devonport business owner said three of her young employees had quit because they could now get more money staying home than working.

They would have been earning $400-500 per week.

The woman said nobody at her businesses had lost their job and she did not have casual workers.

She said the government did not require severance forms for people to get the bigger payments and should be made aware of how easy it had made going from work to welfare without losing a job.

She said she was aware of other employers having similar worker resignations.

Devonport Chamber of Commerce and Industry president and restaurant operator Dane Layton said: "I think most of our guys (workers) are concentrating on having a job at the other end."

He said he imagined the increased unemployment payments could look attractive to workers on part-time hours who were "not in it for the long term".

My Layton said the dilemma was "a tough one" and he did not believe some sort of test for new benefit seekers would be useful at present, with the Centrelink workload "going bonkers".

Comment was being sought from Braddon Liberal MHR Gavin Pearce and Tasmanian Labor Senator Anne Urquhart.