Advertorial: Do you qualify for UIF benefits?

Have you been retrenched or has your employment contract expired? Are you not receiving a full income because you are ill and cannot work? Are you not receiving full maternity benefits or are you on maternity leave?

If you have answered yes to all these questions and your company makes regular contributions to the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) on your behalf, then you are entitled to benefits you might not be aware of.

To claim benefits from the UIF, the fund first has to determine if contributors are eligible. Unemployment benefits are only available to those whose employers have terminated their services, or whose contracts of employment have expired. No benefits are paid to those who resign or abscond. Qualifying contributors can claim between 38% to 60% of their contributable earnings at the time they lost their jobs. Low income earners receive a higher percentage.

If an employee of a company falls ill and the employer does not pay them a full salary due to failure to work, they can claim from the UIF as well.

In this case, the fund will augment the money the employee is losing for not working, but not exceeding 100% of their total monthly earnings. Contributors claiming illness benefits must produce valid medical certificates.

Pregnant women who do not receive full income from their places of employment can claim maternity benefits from the UIF for up to 121 days. Maternity benefits are also paid for up to six weeks for women who suffer a miscarriage or whose babies are stillborn.

The UIF has introduced adoption benefits for those contributors who choose to go this route. Here benefits only apply if the child being adopted is younger than two years old. Only one of the contributing parents qualifies for benefits, provided that they suffer full or partial loss of income while caring for the child.

The surviving spouse or dependents of a contributor who dies can claim benefits from the UIF.

Children up to 25 years of age, whose parent has passed away, qualify for benefits only if they are still students and were wholly dependent on the late parent. Brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers and other relatives of the contributor who passed away do not qualify.

All applications for UIF benefits must be made within six months of the loss of income for whichever of the reasons mentioned above.

They can be made by visiting the nearest labour centre or online at www.ufiling.co.za.