UIF Registration (Department of Labour)

How does UIF work in South Africa?

When your employer terminates your service, you can apply to the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) for benefits. The benefits are only available to you if you have and your employer have been contributing to the UIF while employed. You cannot claim if you have resigned, been suspended or absconded from work.

Any employee, including a domestic worker, who works for you for more than 24 hours per month must be registered with the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and the employer is legally obliged to make monthly payments to UIF.

Payments are a 1% contribution from the employer plus a 1% deduction from the employee’s wages.

The UIF Certificate of Compliance confirms that your Company is in ‘good standing’ with its UIF contributions. A UIF Certificate of Compliance has recently become a compulsory compliance document for all Government Service Providers and Tender Applications.

UIF can be claimed for 12 months, provided that you have full credit days. Credits accrue as follows: for every four days that you work as a contributor, you receive one day’s credit, subject to a maximum of 12 months.