If you work for longer than 24 hours per month, by law, you are required to make contributions to the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).
Every month an employer will deduct 1% of your gross salary and contribute it to the UIF. The employer will also contribute a further 1% to the fund. This money accumulates and should you need UIF benefits, you can claim from the fund.
In order to calculate how much money you are entitled to you can follow the steps listed below.
Calculate your daily remuneration
The first thing you need to do is work out your daily remuneration. For example, if you earn R4000 you should multiply this by 12. The 12 is the month of the year.
R 4000 x 12 = R 48 000
You need to then divide this value of your yearly income by 365 which represents the amount of days in a year.
R48 000 / 365 = R131.51
Find Your Pay Scale and work out your benefits
Depending on your salary, you will be paid a percentage of what you would have earned on a daily basis. The highest amount you could be paid is 58% of what you would have earned daily. This percentage applies to lower paid workers. The higher your salary, the lower the percentage you will receive.
If you earned R131.51 daily and you are qualify to get paid 58% of this, you will receive R76.28c in daily benefits
R131.51 x 58 / 100 = R77.28 daily
It is also important to note that the benefits you receive will be based upon how long you have been contributing to the UIF.
If you have contributed to the fund for more than 4 years, you will be entitled to 365 days worth of benefits. If you have contributed to the fund for a shorter period of time, your benefits will be determined by how many credits you have accumulated. You can accumulate 1 credit for every 5 days worked.
