The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) makes provision for workers with short-term relief once they are no longer part of the working force. The fund has clarified when payments will be processed, as some individuals might have had plans to have their UIF claims processed.
The UIF has released a statement saying that it will not be processing payments from 24 December 2021 to 2 January 2022.
However, payments will resume as per normal on 3 January 2002. Among the claims affected are the normal UIF benefits, TERS benefits and Workers Affected By Unrest (WABU).
The UIF continues to help many people who have lost employment - including dependants of a deceased contributor.
If you had been contributing to the UIF during the period of your employment, only then are the benefits available to you.
There are 5 kinds of benefits covered by UIF:
- Unemployment benefits - if you have been dismissed or retrenched or if your contract has expired
- Illness benefits - if you are off work due to illness for two weeks. Benefits are paid from the date on which you stopped working.
- Maternity benefits - if you are pregnant and take maternity leave. You can claim for 17 weeks. If you miscarry in the third trimester or the baby is stillborn, you can claim for 6 weeks
- Adoption benefits - if you legally adopt a child younger than two years old and you leave work to look after that child. Only one of the adopting parents can apply for benefits.
- Death benefits - The wife/ husband or minor child of someone who has died can claim death benefits if the deceased paid contributions to the fund.
The Labour depend also has included the Temporary Employee / Employer Relief Scheme (TERS) UIF, which was established due to the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown restrictions, negatively impacting businesses and their employees.
Employees that qualify are those who lost their income or experienced salary cuts because of the pandemic and the regulations limiting economic activity during the different lockdown levels.
Below are the criteria that employees should take note of:
- The company must be registered for UIF
- The company must comply with the application procedure
- The company’s closure must be directly linked to the COVID-19 pandemic
UIF also distributes a short-term financial relief to workers, known as the Workers Affected By Unrest (WABU) relief. This relief is primarily for workers who were affected by the civil unrest in parts of KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng in July.
A total of R6.4 million has been paid to 1402 workers thus far. For more info about WABU applications, click here.
Contact the UIF toll free call centre on 0800 030 for further assistance.
