Sonja Vorster
Contributing to Unemployment Insurance Benefits (UIF) is a legislated requirement. The employer and the worker each contribute one percent.
The only workers excluded from contribution to the fund by law are workers working less than 24 hours a month for an employer, learners, public servants and foreigners working on contract who are going to be repatriated at the end of their contract.
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You MUST contribute to UIF and be registered for UIF if you are a pensioner that is working and WILL NOT lose your pension, providing the income you are earning does not exceed R73 800 p.a (R6 150pm) if you are single or R 14 7600 (R12 300pm) if married.
If you are a commission earner, you are also required to be registered for UIF. Employers must understand that if you have a garden or domestic worker that only works one day a week for you, this person must be registered and you and the employee must contribute to UIF by law.
The employee, excluding the lunch hour works on average for eight hours per day, and reports once a week. To calculate how many hours the employee is working for a month must be done with the following formula (eight hours per week times 4.333 = 34.7 hours per month) The reason the formula 4.333 is used; (as guided by the Basic conditions of employment Act)is that we have 52 weeks in one year.
Divide 52 weeks by 12 months in the year and it will provide you with 4.33 and this is the formula that must be used when you calculate wages. Many times I see people incorrectly divide a month’s wages by 4 and this is incorrect.
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And just a point to remember, even though this person only works one day a week for the past number of years, this person is a permanent employee and registration of UIF must be done from day one.
The following amendments are in the Unemployment Insurance Amendment Bill:
Unemployment insurance benefits have been extended to learners who are undergoing learnership programmes, and public servants. These benefits have also been extended to contributing employees who lose part of their income due to reduced working time, subject to certain requirements being met.
• Extend the period of payment of benefits to the contributor from eight months to 12 months.
Extend the period in which a contributor can lodge a claim (from six months to 12 months).
Dependants may apply for benefits on behalf of deceased relatives within 18 months of the death of the contributor. These contributors may also nominate beneficiaries in relation to death benefits.
Currently a contributor’s entitlement to benefits accrues at a rate of one day’s benefit for every completed six days of employment, subject to a maximum accrual of 238 days.
The Amendment Bill seeks to increase the maximum amount of accrual days to 365, thereby increasing the benefits that can be claimed.
Payment of maternity benefits at a rate of 66 percent of the earnings of the beneficiary at the date of the application, subject to the maximum income threshold set out in the UIF Act. Benefits are also extended to a beneficiary who miscarries during the third trimester or who bears a still born child.
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A beneficiary is however not entitled to benefits unless she is employed, whether as a contributor or not, for at least 13 weeks before applying for the maternity benefits.
The application period for maternity benefits has been extended from eight weeks before child birth to any time before or after child birth, provided that the application is made within a period of 12 months after the date of child birth.
In terms of the UIF Act, contributors can claim illness benefits if the contributor is unable to work, subject to the prescribed requirements. A contributor however is not entitled to claim this benefit if the period of illness is less than 14 days.
A minimum period of seven days has now been proposed. These amendments will not only provide more benefits to both employed and unemployed workers but also extended application periods to apply for such benefits. This may assist in alleviating the harmful economic and social effects of unemployment.
One aspect that concerns me greatly, which I have seen is that maternity benefits are not paid by the fund monthly to the new mother whilst she is on maternity leave.
The pattern that seems to have developed is that a claim is made a month prior to the baby’s birth. The claimant received a small amount if she is lucky in the month of the baby’s birth and then one final larger some in the month she already returned to work from maternity leave.
I am as yet to receive a reply from the department as to why this is happening. As soon as I know, the readers will be informed. This is especially problematic for single mothers that receive no other form of income and is solely reliant on the UIF payments.
A very useful app can be downloaded from your App store on your cell phone. This app provides a very accurate rand value you can expect when claiming UIF benefits: UIF Calculator – South Africa designed by Helewix.com 2013.
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