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Every formally employed South African pays unemployment insurance every month.
Many of us will probably never use it, but for those people who are unfortunate enough to be dismissed or retrenched, there is now a bright light at the end of the tunnel.
The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) was established with the primary objective of collecting contributions and paying such contributions to workers when the need arises, based on benefit qualification criteria.
However, the global economic recession propelled the UIF to seek alternative ways to assist overall government efforts to create and retain jobs.
The UIF management and board sought alternative solutions to the skills development problems that contribute to issues of structural unemployment and on issues of job creation.
The Unemployment Insurance Act makes provision for interventions towards job creation, retention and skills development.
Section 48(1)(a)(iv) of the act, 2001, as amended, stipulates that the UIF board must advise the minister on the creation of schemes to alleviate the effects of unemployment.
To this end, the UIF has established its labour activation programmes unit.
Its primary objective is to increase the UIF’s participation in poverty-alleviation schemes.
The labour activation unit realises this objective through focusing on:
. Targeted training of the unemployed
. Providing support to companies about to retrench
. Partnering with other government departments and public entities; and
. Supporting employment-creation initiatives.
In 2015 and 2016, the labour activation programme unit focused on the implementation of the training of the unemployed in partnership with technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges, sector education and training authorities (Setas) and state-owned enterprises through social plan funding and training lay-off schemes.
Skills development is central to the reduction of unemployment and poverty alleviation.
In order to enhance the employability of UIF beneficiaries and to ensure that they are reintegrated into the job market, the UIF signed funding agreements with 23 TVET colleges across the country and the Transport Education Training Authority (Teta) for the training of 3 290 beneficiaries.
The National Development Plan (NDP) – a blueprint for the country’s economic growth strategy – is a major consideration in the training projects the UIF funds.
The NDP has identified a number of skills that are in dire shortage in the country and that are needed to stimulate economic growth.
In line with the critical skills identified in the NDP, the training projects identified and implemented by the UIF also address the skills shortage imperative.
Key initiatives
A key project that also takes into account issues of youth unemployment is currently underway and the first batch of students are receiving training funded by the UIF in a number of TVET colleges.
TVET colleges receive a sum of R1.8 million to train the students, and students are paid a stipend of R1 500 each per month.
The UIF has agreed with some of the colleges to train 50 students on building and civil construction courses for a period of 12 months.
The students will be taught both theoretical and practical components.
Positive results
The training funding that the organisation has made in the past is beginning to yield positive results.
One such project is the funding partnership between the UIF and the Mining Qualifications Authority in which both parties contributed R90 million to train 1 000 learners on mining-related qualifications.
The UIF’s contribution in the project was R45 million and 431 beneficiaries and 569 non-UIF beneficiaries were enrolled for the training.
Of the 667 learners who completed the training, 400 have been absorbed in the labour market and 267 are still to be placed with various employers.
Another project undertaken in partnership with the Media, Information and Communication Technologies Sector Education Training Authority was funded to the tune of R53 million and the UIF paid R25 million for the project.
Approximately 800 learners were trained on end-user computing skills and a further 200 on Telkom technical skills-related courses.
This course is continuing; however, 190 students have completed their training and 50 of them have been employed, while another 10 are still receiving additional training at Telkom.
A further 1 925 students were trained on end-user computer skills with the same Seta to the tune of R106 million – the UIF’s contribution for the training was set at R53 million.
The new Unemployment Insurance Amendment Bill was signed into law by President Jacob Zuma last week.
Part of the amendment is section 2 which speaks to the refinancing of the unemployment insurance beneficiaries to facilitate re-entry into the labour market, which is what the labour activation programmes (LAPs) are all about.
Although the LAPs had already been implemented, the act has been enhanced to assist in financing the employment promotion projects by the Public Employment Services of the department of labour.
The recently approved Unemployment Insurance Amendment Act underlines the importance of the LAPs as a catalyst of job creation and job preservation in the South African economy.
Here are some of the benefits of the UIF Amendment Act:
. You will have 12 months, instead of six months, from the date on which you were last employed to submit an application for unemployment benefits.
. You will be able to claim unemployment benefits for up to 365 days, instead of 238 days, if you have worked for a continuous four-year period.
. Maternity benefits will be paid at a fixed rate of 66%.
You cannot claim if you resign or abscond, but you can claim if you were on a contract that ended, as long as the employer – not you – terminated your services, or if you were fired.
In order to claim benefits, you have to register as a job seeker with the department of labour.
Registering as a job seeker means that suitable employment, where available, will be offered to you. The department will contact you should suitable employment become available.
Staff at the labour centre may ask unemployed workers to go for training or advice or to visit the labour centre at certain times.
If you refuse any employment offered and your refusal is regarded as unreasonable, or you refuse to go for training, or you refuse to go for advice, you may lose your benefits or they may be suspended.
The UIF also partnered with the Energy and Water Services Sector Education Training Authority and 166 learners were sourced from the department of labour’s database of the unemployed, while a further 133 learners were non-UIF beneficiaries.
All learners have been placed on workplace training and they are currently fitting solar geysers in the Ekurhuleni area.
The learners were trained on solar geyser installation and plumbing. The UIF contributed R9 million to this project, which is valued at R18 million.
The UIF has entered into four partnership projects with Teta.
The first project is scuba diving training, which the organisation has funded to the value of R6.6 million.
The entire training project costs slightly over R13 million and will benefit 100 learners who will be recruited from Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and the Northern Cape.
