# Regulatory Compliance Category > Tax Forum >  Claiming UIF

## duncan drennan

I came across this useful info about the benefits of UIF for employees, and how to go about claiming it on on www.capegateway.gov.za




> *HOW DOES THE FUND HELP EMPLOYEES?*
> 
> Employees who are registered with the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and who have been paying contributions to the Fund, can claim from the Fund if they lose their jobs or cannot work.
> 
> There are five kinds of benefits covered by UIF:
> 
>     * unemployment benefits
>     * illness benefits
>     * maternity benefits
> ...


The article also goes on to explain exactly what you need to claim your UIF.

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## Phil Cooper

OK - but...

What happens to (legal) foreign workers in SA.

The Act says they must contribute to UIF.

BUT - to claim, they must have a greed barcoded ID - which they don't have.  So they must contribute, but cannot claim?

An article by PWC says the Minister was changing the Act to INCLUDE foreign workers in the definition.

A month ago the Deputy of UIF says foreign workers - even legal - cannot claim under UIF as they are not citizens, and there should be no deductions:

Talk about confusing: I get the following article from New Age:


Business owners in the Free State are concerned about the Labour Department’s Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) contributions, particularly, the amount to be deducted and the terms and conditions of payment.

The department of labour is on a campaign to educate business owners and workers about the new U-filing system which according to the department, will improve service delivery and reduce queues at the UIF office.

The UIF was established in terms of section 4 (1) of the Unemployment Insurance Act no 63 of 2001 while the Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act no 4 of 2002 empowers the SARS commissioner and UIF commissioner to collect monthly contributions from employers.

According to UIF assistant manager, Vusi Mnisi, employers need to deduct 1% of an employee’s salary on time and also deduct 1% from their own coffers to pay UIF.

“If an employer forgets to deduct 1% from the employee over a period of three months, they cannot go and withdraw thrice in the following months, it’s fraud. The employer will have to refund the employee and pay the contributions themselves,” he said.

He also said that employers have at least seven working days to pay out the contribution and if they fail, interest would be charged on the amount they were supposed to have paid.

According to Mnisi, for employees earning more than R63000 a year, the employer must register the employee with SARS. He also said that those earning less can only be registered with the UIF.

He said that UIF should not apply to employees working less than 24 hours a month and applies to all other employees and employers.Employers also wanted to know if domestic workers should be registered for UIF when they worked less than 24 hours a month.

In response, Mnisi said in such a case, domestic workers need not be registered however, if a domestic worker worked for more than 24 hours in a month, a UIF contribution would be required.

According to Mnisi, employees who earn more than R20000 per month are liable for a deduction of the R12478 threshold rather than the total cost to the company.

Mnisi added that foreign nationals with or without a visa do not benefit from UIF and as such employers should not make UIF deductions from such people.

“They are not citizens of the country and so cannot enjoy the benefits of citizens ,” said Mnisi.

For SA citizens, employers should pay an overall 2% of the UIF, of which 1% comes from employee and 1% comes from the employer.

And the following is in a PWC article:

Minister of Labour, Membathisi Mdladlana, recently issued a draft Unemployment Insurance Fund regulation which is intended to amend the definition of ‘identity document' for UIF purposes.

Present practice is that several documents must be presented when claiming UIF benefits. One such requirement is the 13-digit-bar-coded South African identity document.

This practice in the past has placed obstacles and hardship for foreign employees working in the country who did not have a South African identity document.

In many cases, the Department of Labour does not accept any UIF application without the accompanying South African thirteen digit identity document. Any other forms of identity documents, such as passports or foreign identity documents, were often deemed unacceptable.
We understand that there is an administrative process in place for these employees to be able to submit a claim to their local Department of Labour office, but that such a claim would need to be referred to the Head Office in Pretoria for approval, which we understand is a lengthy process with no guarantee that such an application will be approved. It seems, however, that such potential UIF claimants are not always made aware of this process and are instead in many cases advised by the local Department of Labour official that they are unable to make a claim.

In terms of the Unemployment Insurance Act, one specific instance where UIF contributions are not required to be paid over, is where an employee has entered South Africa for the purpose of carrying out a contract of service, apprenticeship or learnership within South Africa - and if upon its termination, the employer is required to repatriate that person, or that person is required to leave South Africa.

There are, however, many instances not falling into this exemption where foreign employees will have UIF contributions deducted from their salaries - for example, those who are employed permanently in South Africa, or are under a contract of service that does not require them to be repatriated to their home country on termination of their contract. Their employers are then obliged to deduct UIF contributions from remuneration paid to them, as well as make their own contributions in respect of these employees.

Many foreign employees working permanently in South Africa are out of pocket from contributions made towards the Unemployment Insurance Fund. "They and their employers are obliged to contribute UIF - but any UIF claims are then often being rejected by the Department of Labour.
The reason for the rejection of these foreign individual claims is failure to produce a South African identity document. To have an SA ID, one needs to be a citizen or have been granted permanent resident status. As a result, these non-resident employees are not able to receive UIF benefits, and are instead being instructed to reclaim their UIF contributions from their South African employer - hardly the ideal solution when unemployed and in need of social assistance.

This practice of denying foreign employees their right to claim UIF benefits on the grounds of residency status directly conflicts with the underlying purpose of the Unemployment Insurance Act - being to alleviate the harmful economic and social effects of unemployment on those who have contributed and now need to claim.

It infringes on the rights of foreign contributors to claim UIF in South Africa and appears to be an incorrect interpretation of the Unemployment Insurance Act which provides that a contributor has a right to benefits in terms of this legislation.

Recognising the inequity to non-resident employees, the new draft regulations propose to amend the definition of ‘identity document' as follows - "Identity document" means a 13-digit bar-coded RSA and non-RSA identity (card) document or a RSA bar-coded passport and includes valid foreign identity documents of spouses, life partners or dependant children of deceased contributions.

It is therefore proposed that the definition of ‘identity document' will be expanded to include other forms of identity documents such as passports and foreign identity documents. 

If the proposed amendment is implemented, the position will be that permanent foreign employees or employees who are not required to be repatriated or returned to their home country on termination of their contract of service - and who are not in possession of a South African ID document- can now exercise their right to claim and be paid any UIF benefits to which they are entitled. They will be able to exercise their UIF rights by producing other forms of non-RSA identity documentation.

*Vincent Ndzala is a tax consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers


SO - do you or don't you pay?

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Dave A (22-Sep-12)

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## Dave A

There are two areas where I see a problem with the statement:




> According to Mnisi, for employees earning more than R63000 a year, the employer must register the employee with SARS. He also said that those earning less can only be registered with the UIF.


Mnisi is out of date. All employees must be registered with SARS nowadays.




> Mnisi added that foreign nationals with or without a visa do not benefit from UIF and as such employers should not make UIF deductions from such people.
> 
> “They are not citizens of the country and so cannot enjoy the benefits of citizens ,” said Mnisi.


The problem with this is exactly as covered in the PWC statement:




> In terms of the Unemployment Insurance Act, one specific instance where UIF contributions are not required to be paid over, is where an employee has entered South Africa for the purpose of carrying out a contract of service, apprenticeship or learnership within South Africa - and if upon its termination, the employer is required to repatriate that person, or that person is required to leave South Africa.
> 
> There are, however, many instances not falling into this exemption where foreign employees will have UIF contributions deducted from their salaries - for example, those who are employed permanently in South Africa, or are under a contract of service that does not require them to be repatriated to their home country on termination of their contract. Their employers are then obliged to deduct UIF contributions from remuneration paid to them, as well as make their own contributions in respect of these employees.


This renders this response by the Department laughable:




> The reason for the rejection of these foreign individual claims is failure to produce a South African identity document. To have an SA ID, one needs to be a citizen or have been granted permanent resident status. As a result, these non-resident employees are not able to receive UIF benefits, and are instead being instructed to reclaim their UIF contributions from their South African employer


...who have only been doing what they are obliged to do in terms of legislation!

The Department can't pass the buck like that. If there's a refund of contributions due, IMO it is the Department that must pay it.

It is also probably worth mentioning that I use Ufiling. In the last few years I have employed two foreign nationals and I can confirm that I had no problem adding these employees to the Ufiling system - one using their Zimbabwean passport, and the other using their file number with the Department of Home Affairs. The Zimbabwean had a work permit and the other was registered with Home Affairs as a refugee.

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## Tricrule

The following is mentioned and reference is made to the UF139. The Bellville office says it doesnt exist. Please can someone advise..

claiming unemployment

    What is the Unemployment Insurance Fund?
    How Does the Fund Help Employees?
    How Much Money Can Workers Claim?
    Can You Get an Extension When You Have Used up Your Benefits?

WHAT IS THE UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE FUND?

The fund offers short-term financial assistance to workers when they become unemployed or are unable to work because of illness, maternity or adoption leave. The fund also assists the dependants of a contributing worker who has died.

All workers who work for more than 24 hours per month (except public servants) must contribute to the UIF.

Workers pay 1% of their salaries every month. Their employers contribute a further 1%. It is the employer's responsibility to deduct the worker's contribution from their salary and pay it to the fund along with their contribution.

The employer is also responsible for making sure that all employees are registered with the UIF. If an employee has been registered and the contributions are paid, then that employee will be able to claim from the fund. The employee does not need a card or any other proof that they have contributed to the UIF.

All foreigners also qualify for UIF, and employers must also register foreigners with the fund.

HOW DOES THE FUND HELP EMPLOYEES?

Employees who are registered with the UIF and who have been paying contributions to the fund can claim if they lose their jobs or cannot work.

There are five kinds of benefits covered by UIF:

    Unemployment benefits.
    Illness benefits.
    Maternity benefits.
    Adoption benefits.
    Death benefits.

You can claim unemployment benefits if you have been dismissed or retrenched or if your contract has expired. You cannot claim if you have voluntarily resigned from your job.

You can claim 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 can be claimed if you are pregnant and take maternity leave. You can take maternity leave at any time from four weeks before the expected date of birth and you may not work for six weeks after the birth.

You can claim 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.

The wife/husband or minor child of someone who has died can claim death benefits if the deceased paid contributions to the fund.

HOW MUCH MONEY CAN WORKERS CLAIM?

If you have been contributing to the UIF for four years or more, then you can claim for up to 238 days. If you have been contributing for a shorter period, then you can claim one day for every six days that you worked while you were contributing to the UIF.

If you take maternity leave, you can only claim up to 121 days.

The UIF pays a percentage of the wage/salary that you earned while you were contributing to the fund. The highest amount that can be paid is 58% of what you earned per day.

CAN YOU GET AN EXTENSION WHEN YOU HAVE USED UP YOUR BENEFITS?

If you have used up your benefits and you are still unemployed or you are still ill, you can apply to have the UIF benefits extended.

If you are still unemployed, you need to complete form UF139 listing all the places where you have tried to find work. This form must be submitted to the Department of Labour.

If you are still ill, you need to fill in form UF140. Your doctor will have to complete the medical certificate that forms part of this application.

If the Department of Labour thinks that there are good reasons for you to get more benefits, then they will approve the application, but this does not happen often.
It may help if you can show that:

    You are actively looking for work.
    You depend on the UIF benefits for necessities like rent, food and water.
    You had contributed to the UIF for more than four years. 

INSTRUCTIONS:
	There are different procedures for claiming the various benefits available:

    Unemployment Benefits
    Illness Benefits
    Maternity Benefits
    Adoption Benefits
    Death Benefits

CLAIMING UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

If you want to claim from the UIF you need to go to your nearest Labour Office. There you will be asked to sign the unemployment register. You will be told when you need to come back and sign the register again. You will have to sign every four weeks to show that you still need to claim the UIF benefits.

You must go back to the office and sign the register on the correct date. If you are ill, you must take a doctor's certificate with you to the labour centre.

You will be given a white card, which the UIF officer will sign each time you sign the register.

If everything is in order, you should start getting money from the fund within eight weeks of registering. The money will then be paid every four weeks, until all the benefits are used up.

If you don't receive your money in eight weeks, you should phone the Labour Centre and ask them to find out why there is a delay. Remember to have your name and ID number ready.

You will receive a slip every time you receive money so that you can see how much you have received and how much you can still get.

To claim unemployment benefits you need to have:

    A copy of 13-digit bar-coded identity document.
    A copy of your last six payslips.
    Information supplied by your employer (UI-19).
    A service certificate from the employer.
    Proof of registration as a work seeker.
    A fully completed registration form.

If you want to receive unemployment benefits you need to be prepared to:

    Go for training or career counseling if the UIF officer asks you to.
    Be available for work. If you are offered work, you need to be ready to work.
    Go to different companies to ask for work. You will get a form that needs to be signed showing that you have looked for work and that there are no jobs available.

You need to collect your unemployment benefits from the Labour Office on the date they said the money will be there. You have to collect the money yourself and you must have your white card and ID book with you.

CLAIMING ILLNESS BENEFITS

To apply for illness benefits, you need to register at the Labour Office nearest to you. If you are too ill to go to the office yourself, a friend or family member can get the form from the office and bring it to you to sign. The signed form then needs to be returned to the Labour Office.

You will need:

    A copy of your bar-coded identity document.
    Copies of your last six payslips.
    Information supplied by your employer (UI-19).
    A service certificate from the employer.
    Proof of banking details.
    A statement of amount received from your employer during the period of the illness.
    A fully completed registration form.

You also need to submit a medical certificate (Form UF86) from your doctor. You need to get your doctor to complete the appropriate section of Form UF86 and then submit this to the UIF claims officer at the Labour Office. The Department of Labour will consider the application and post Form UF87 to you. You need to complete this form and your doctor needs to sign it. You then submit this form to the claims officer as well.

You will be paid benefits for the time that the doctor has booked you off work but not for the first two weeks off work. You will also only be paid for the time that you have not received normal wages from your employer.

Illness benefits will be paid to you by cheque and posted to you.

Remember, you cannot claim illness benefits if your illness was caused by your own misconduct or if you unreasonably refuse treatment or fail to follow the doctor's instructions.

If you have lost your job as well as being too ill to work, you need to inform the claims officer of this because you might also be able to claim unemployment benefits for the period not covered by the illness benefits.

CLAIMING MATERNITY BENEFITS

To claim maternity benefits, you need to register at the Labour Office in person or organise for someone to go in your place. All necessary documents must go with the applicant to the labour office.

To register you will need:

    A 13-digit bar-coded identity document or passport.
    Copies of your last six payslips and form UI-2.8 for banking details.
    Information supplied by your employer (UI-19).
    A service certificate from the employer.
    Proof of your banking details.
    A statement of amount received from employer during maternity leave.
    Form UI-2.7.
    Form UI-2.3 (application form).
    Medical certificate from a doctor or birth certificate of the baby.
    Form UI-4 (follow-up form).
    Fully completed registration form.

When you register, you will be given Form UF92. This form must be filled in by your doctor. You then submit this form to the UIF claims officer at the Labour Office.

The claim will be paid by cheque, which will be posted to you. To apply for benefits after the baby is born, you need to complete Form UF95 with help from the doctor who delivered the baby. If you are also unemployed, then you must notify the claims officer.

CLAIMING ADOPTION BENEFITS

If you want to claim adoption benefits, you need to register with a claims officer at your nearest Labour Office.

You will need to have:

    A copy of your identity document.
    Copies of your last six payslips.
    Your employer's details on form UI-19.
    A service certificate issued by your employer.
    The adoption order.
    Proof of your banking details.
    A statement of amount that you have received from your employer during your adoption leave.
    A copy of your adopted child's birth certificate.

You must apply for the benefits within six months of the adoption order being issued.

Adoption benefits are paid by cheque through the post. A form will accompany the payment. This form must be filled in and sent back to the claims officer at the Labour Office.

CLAIMING DEATH BENEFITS

The husband or wife of the deceased worker and any minor children of the worker can claim death benefits from the UIF.

You must apply for these benefits within six months of the death of the worker.

If you were the husband or wife of the deceased worker, you need to go to the Labour Office. You will need to have:

    Your identity document.
    Copies of the deceased's last six payslips.
    The employer's details on form UI-19.
    A certified copy of the death certificate.
    A certified copy of your marriage certificate.
    A service certificate from the employer.
    Proof of your banking details. 

If you are the child of the deceased worker, you can claim by completing Form UF127 and submitting it at the Labour Office. You will need:

    A copy of your identity document.
    Copies of the last six payslips of the deceased.
    Information supplied by the employer on form UI-19.
    A service certificate from the employer.
    A certificate copy of your (the child's) birth certificate.
    Proof of your banking details.
    A certified copy of the death certificate.
    Proof of guardianship.
    Proof that you (the child) are a learner who was dependent on the deceased.

The Labour Office will give you Form UF128, which needs to be filled in by the deceased's last employer and then submitted at the Labour Office.
The death benefit is the amount that the worker could have claimed if they were unemployed. This is paid out in one payment.
PROVIDED BY:
GOVERNMENT BODY:
	Department of Labour (The Government of South Africa)

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