by If you are new to UIF (Unemployment Insurance Fund), or you have you just been retrenched and have never made a claim before, we offer insight into the process you will need to take.
It’s important to note, however, that you will only start receiving benefits as much as eight weeks after you have registered. This should be the maximum amount of time it should take for payment to begin.
Payment is an interim process that is designed to help ‘bridge the gap’ between jobs. It is important to note that you can only claim from the fund if you have been actively contributing to your unemployment fund, your employer goes bankrupt, you are retrenched, or fired, or if your contract ends.
What Benefits Do You Get With UIF?
The Unemployment Fund provides the following benefits:
- Unemployment benefits
- Illness benefits
- Maternity benefits
- Death benefits
Benefits received from death include the death of a spouse or parent, whereby the deceased’s’ contribution to UIF can be accessed.
DID YOU KNOW? You can claim when adopting a child under the age of two years old. This, however, only applies if you have left work and is only available for one adoptive parent.
DID YOU KNOW? An unemployment officer might request that you go for career advice, counseling, or training. If you refuse or fail to attend, your UIF benefits may be stopped.
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Who Cannot Claim From UIF?
You cannot claim from UIF if you:
- Quit your job.
- Were suspended from work for committing fraud.
- Refused training or advice.
- Already qualify for a benefit from an unemployment fund under the Labour Relations Act.
- Already received benefits from the Compensation Fund.
According to the Department of Labour website, The Unemployment Insurance Act and Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act applies to all employers and workers, but not to:
- Workers working less than 24 hours a month for an employer
- Learners
- Public servants
- Foreigners working on a contract to be repatriated at the end of their contract
- Employees in receipt of an old age pension are, since 07/02/2007, no longer excluded from contributing towards UIF
- Workers who only earn a commission
- They work for more than one employer, and lose their job at one of the employers
- Their employer dies
This Is How You Claim From UIF
Visit your nearest Department of Labour Office to sign an unemployment register.
You will need:
- Your South African identity document or passport
- A service certificate from your employer
- Copies of your last six payslips
- The UI-2.8 form which shows your banking details
- The UI-19 form which shows you are no longer employed
After you have registered you will need to bring your proof of registration each time you claim from the fund.
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How Often Can You Claim?
You can claim every four weeks from the Department of Labour office where you registered.
How Much Do You Receive?
UIF pays out a percentage of the wage or salary that you earned while you were contributing to the fund.
The highest that can be paid out is 58% of what you earned in a day. If you earned less than R12 000 per month, you will receive between 26% and 56%.
In the scenario where you have been contributing to UIF for more than four years, you can claim up to 238 days, or eight months. If you have been contributing for less than four years, you will receive one day’s pay for every six days that you contributed to the fund.
If your company does not provide maternity leave, UIF will pay out for 121 days.
The amount will be determined based on how much you were paid and, contrary to what you may have previously thought, the more you earned in your last job, the less you will receive from UIF.
