• This benefit will only be paid to qualifying employees who are contributors to UIF and their employers have declared and paid for them with the Fund.
• Qualifying employees are –
  • Employees of employers who are not permitted to commence operations either fully or partially in terms of the Regulations published by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in terms of the Disaster Management Act, and who operate in a section specified in Annexure A of the direction.
  • Employees of employers who are unable to make alternative arrangements for vulnerable employees to work from home or take other measures as contemplated in clause 20.3 of the OHS Direction (Consolidated Direction on OHS Measures), irrespective of whether the employer operated in a sector specified in Annexure A or not.
    *Vulnerable employee means an employee with known or disclosed health issues or comorbidities or any other condition that may place the employee at the higher risk of complications or death than other employees infected with COVID-19, or above the age of 60 years (or otherwise stipulated in any amended OHS Direction of National Disaster Regulation) who is at higher risk of complications or death if infected.
  • Employees of employers who are unable to make use of their services either fully or partially because of operational requirements based on the economic, technological, structural or similar needs of the employer caused by compliance with the Regulations made in terms of the Disaster Management Act or directions made under those Regulations in particular the need to limit the number of employees at the workplace through rostering, staggering of working hours, short time and the introduction of a shift system.
  • Employees who are required to ensure that they remain in isolation or in quarantine in terms of the OHS Direction or a direction issued by the Minister of Health following a high risk-contact, irrespective of whether the employer operates in a sector specified in Annexure A or not. These employees need not first exhaust their sick leave before claiming.                                                                                                          

• Calculated in terms of section 13(1) of the Unemployment Insurance Act.
• Should the benefit together with any remuneration earned fall below R3 500, the benefit will be increased to ensure that the employee, in total of both, receives R3 500.
• The employer, provided that it is disclosed upfront in the benefit application, shall be entitled to supplement the amount received from the Fund; provided further that the benefit and any remuneration received by the employer for work performed by the employee in the period shall not exceed 100% of the remuneration that the employee would ordinarily have received working during that period.
• Where a difference exists between the monthly salary captured (when applying for the benefit) and what is recorded as an average salary on the Fund’s system (based on the UIF submission files from 1 Oct 2019 – 31 March 2020), the calculation will be based on the lower of the two values.

• Online at https://uifecc.labour.gov.za/covid19/
• To effectively assess and process the claims, the Fund had to make some adjustments to the online portal. Claim codes are provided for the 4 categories of eligible employers:

• Development of the online portal continues and the Fund requests patience as they phase in application processes for some of the new complex claim codes which require the addition of supporting information and documentation. Therefore, only ‘Claim Code 1’ can apply  making use of the revised CSV template (see attached).

• In order for the employer to prove that they are unable to make alternative arrangements for vulnerable employees to work from home or take alternative arrangements for vulnerable employees to work from home or take alternative measures, and to provide that the employee is in quarantine or isolation and is entitled to benefits the following is required of the employer
• Must submit the categories of data in (a) to (e) below to the National Institute for Occupational Health in the manner set out in the National Department of Health Guidelines:
  

(a)Each employee’s vulnerability status for serious outcomes of a Covid-19 infection;

(b)Details of the Covid-19 screening of employees who are symptomatic

(c)Details of employees who test positive in terms of a positive laboratory test for the Covid-19 virus;

(d)Details of employees identified as high risk contracts with the workplace if a worker has been confirmed as being positive;

(e)Details on the post -infection outcomes of those testing positive, including the return to work assessment outcomes

The employee declaration returns by the employer will confirm loss of income and thus inability to make alternative arrangements for the affected employees.
 

• For more information, please click here.
• The employer can also click on ‘Application Info’ on the TERS website for more information regarding the application procedure.
• For any further assistance or questions, please contact the Fund Call Centre on 0800 030 007.