HR 101 - UIF (Unemployment Fund) – Part 3

HR 101 - UIF (Unemployment Fund) – Part 3

By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

Please note that this pertains to South African Labour Relations and Best Practice requirements.

So far we have established what you can claim for, or what benefits you could be entitled to and then we established what the procedure is to claim unemployment benefits from the unemployment fund.

Today we continue with the ‘how to’ of claiming your illness benefits.

You will need to register at your nearest Labour Centre.  This being the ‘illness benefit’ though, means that if you are too sick to go and complete the forms yourself, a relative or friend can collect the forms  for you and you can then sign them.  The forms will have to be returned to the Labour office.  Some of these forms can be downloaded off the Department of Labour website, but word of caution – I have of late, discovered that you download a form from the website only to be told when you submit it to whichever institution, that the form is ‘obsolete’ and that the infamous ‘somebody’ did not update the website, so it would perhaps be a good idea to check first to ensure that the website forms are current.

When you register you will need the following documents:
- A copy of your green, bar encoded ID document.
- Copies of your last 6 payslips
- The UI19 form that must be completed and signed off by your employer
- A certificate of service from your employer
- Proof of banking details (either a recent bank statement or a letter from the bank)
- A Statement from your employer documenting the amounts of remuneration that have been received by yourself during the period that you have been sick.
- The fully completed and duly signed registration form.

Don’t forget to submit your medical certificate as proof of your illness and your doctor will also have to complete the relevant details on the form UF86 (which also has to be signed and submitted to the UIF office).  The UIF claims department will then “consider and assess” your application and if you are successful they will post you the form UF87, which again needs to be completed and signed by your doctor, before it is submitted back to the Labour office.

Should you be successful though, the benefits that are paid out to you will be from the date that the doctor booked you off, excluding the first two weeks’.  Also please note that you will only be paid for the period of time that you did not receive your normal wages from your employer.

It is also very important to understand that the ‘illness benefit’ will not be paid out to people who have caused their own illness through misconduct or if you have refused reasonable treatment from your doctor or if you have failed to follow the treatment instructions of your doctor.

Also, if you are both unemployed as well as too ill to work, this also needs to be communicated to the claims officer as you may be entitled to claim unemployment benefits for the period of time that is not covered by the illness benefit, provided of course that you qualify to collect as per the detail in part 1 of this series.

Again the illness benefits will be paid to you by cheque (which will be posted to you) or alternatively where possible, by internet transfer directly into your bank account.

Next week we will have a look at the “how to” collect your illness benefits and maternity benefits and depending upon the availability of space, the death benefits too.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za