Many people encounter unforeseen circumstances that could impact their income. The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) seeks to supplement this lost income by providing its contributors with a wide range of benefits.
They provide benefits that cover individuals for illness leave, maternity leave, reduced work time, adoption leave and parental leave. However, the UIF recently noticed an uptick in the amount of people applying for benefits they are not entitled to.
The UIF announced that they have reintroduced a verification process which they believe will go a long way in preventing corruption and fraudulent activity related to the UIF’s services. This payment verification process will be undertaken by the fund before the money is released into a claimants bank account.
Unfortunately, this payment verification process will unfortunately delay the release of the benefit payments into a claimant’s bank account. These benefits will now reflect in the banking account within five to ten days after the payment is approved.
The UIF said, “We wish to assure claimants that efforts are made to fast track this process so that they won’t have to wait for too long”. The fund has apologised for the inconvenience this may cause as claimants wait for their UIF benefits.
It's important to note that to qualify for UIF benefits, individuals must have contributed to the fund. This amount contributed to the UIF monthly is 1% of your salary. An employer will contribute a further 1%.
The UIF uses a credit system to determine how long you may claim benefits for. This process is measured in days. For every four days you work, you will receive one credit. The maximum amount of credits a contributor can acquire is 365 credits/days.
