The Unemployment Insurance Fund exists to provide temporary financial assistance to individuals if they ever become employed. The fund follows a process in order to ensure that payments are made to beneficiaries.
The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) provides short-term financial assistance in the event that employee becomes completely unemployed or is temporarily unable to work, for reasons such as maternity/paternity leave, adoption or parental leave, illness or injury.
UIF also provides benefits to the familial dependents of a deceased UIF contributor/employee.
Being unemployed, even temporarily, can be a huge stressor for people as their expenses continue to exist even if their income doesn’t anymore. UIF provides a bit of relief in the event of this happening by paying out money to an individual.
The Unemployment Insurance Fund supplements income lost by employees who previously contributed to the fund. Every month, 2% of an employee’s monthly remuneration must go towards UIF, kind of like saving for a rainy day.
The 2% is split between the employer and the employee; the employer contributes 1% and the employee contributes the other 1%. Over time, these contributions build credit. The more credits an employee has, the longer they will be able to claim benefits from the UIF.
You must apply for UIF benefits as soon as you become unemployed or within six months after the termination of your employment.
You will be notified when your claim is approved and when to submit a payment request form. The first payment will be made into your bank account two to four days after the process is complete.
The total amount you will claim from UIF is calculated by multiplying the Daily Benefit Amount (DBA) by the number of available credit days; therefore, the total benefit amount = Daily Benefit Amount x available credit days.
Credit days are accumulated as follows: for every four days that you work as a contributor, you receive one day’s credits subject to a maximum of 365 credit days; DBA = 66% of income capped at R17712 per month.
You will be paid a percentage of what you were previously earning while employed, on a daily basis. The highest amount you could be paid is 58% of what you were would’ve earned daily, but this percentage mainly applies to lower-paid employees.
The higher your salary, the lower percentage you will receive.
The right to claim UIF as a dependent beneficiary of a deceased employee expires six months after the deceased’s passing.
