Knowing how UIF works

Claiming UIF can be stressful and confusing for most people. Now add to that pregnancy hormones and twins or triplets in your belly and this is enough to cause any mom and extra dose of craziness.

We spoke to Helene Vermaak from Mom’s Link to UIF who gave us some simple pointers on how to make the process easier and who can benefit from the system.

The main purpose of UIF is to assist people who stop receiving a salary for a period of time for various reasons which can include pregnancy or adopting a child under the age of 2 years.

Who can claim?

The future mom – to -be can claim for a period of up to 17 weeks. The Dept of Labour pays between 38% and 58% of your salary.  The higher your salary, the lower the %.  The maximum monthly amount that your employer can deduct from your salary towards UIF, is R148.72, i.e. 1% of R14 872.  Because you pay UIF on this salary, the payments from UIF is also calculated from a maximum of R14 872.  No matter what your actual salary is.  Maximum payment is 38% of R14 872 = +-R5 600 per month You can also claim even if you have a miscarriage, here you can claim for a period of up to 6 weeks.

Non South Africans with a valid passport and who contribute monthly to UIF may claim

Who can’t claim?

Unfortunately there are those moms that can’t claim for various reasons. Some of them being

• If you work less than 24 hours a month
• Commission earners. You can only submit if you earn a basic plus commission
• Are a learner ( so a student in high school or university )
• Sole proprietor ( a business trading in your own name )
• Work for the government
• If you are a salary earner and you have never paid UIF
• Salary earners who resign while they are pregnant can only claim up to 4 months
• If you earn a full salary while on maternity leave you may not claim
• There is a chance you may not claim if you have claimed other UIF benefits in last 4 – 5 years

What forms do you need?

• Complete the relevant application forms
• Copy of your ID or passport
• Submit your employee’s details on form UI.19
• Supporting documents like payslip and proof of residence

Ensure you have filled in the form correctly, any blank spaces will slow down the process and incorrect banking information will cause a delay in payment.

How is the payment calculated?

Payment is calculated in two ways.

• If you were contributing monthly, you will multiply your monthly salary by 12 and then divide it by 365 days
• If you were contributing weekly, you will multiply your weekly salary by 52 and then divide it by 365 days

Extra points to remember

• You can only claim within the first 6 months of your babies birth
• You do not pay tax on your UIF claims
• If you are retrenched claim your maternity benefit before your other benefits from the Dept. of Labour. Maternity Claims don’t affect your credits

UIF Agencies

There are many agencies that offer their services. After asking on Facebook these came up as the prefer ones by other twin moms.

• Moms link to UIF www.momslink.co.za
• Mothers joy  www.mothersjoy.co.za
• UIF hero  www.uif-hero.co.za
• Babybenefitsuif  www.babybenefitsuif.co.za

You can also contact the UIF offices directly in Pretoria on (012) 337 – 1700