UIF has paid R419m since uFiling website went down: here’s how to access services

Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) branches will extend their operating hours as their online downtime continues.

The UIF’s online platform, uFiling, has been down since the end of August after the platform’s support services were subject to interim interdict by the Pretoria High Court.

Selected service centres in five provinces will now be open on Saturdays for the remainder of September.

Provision of UIF services

The uFiling enabled users to apply for UIF benefits, register companies and employees for UIF and make payments to the fund.

Despite the temporary shutdown of the site, UIF have processed roughly 181 000 claims and paid out R419 607 185 owed.

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There will be a total of 23 service and labour centres providing a sixth days’ service. They include:

• Cape Town, Mitchells Plain and Belville in the Western Cape
• East London, Gqeberha and Qonce in the Eastern Cape
• Pietermaritzburg and Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal
• Secunda, Mbombela, Emalahleni, Middleburg, and Malelane in Mpumalanga
• Rustenburg, Brits, Potchefstroom, Mahikeng, Lichtenburg, Klerksdorp, Vryburg, Christiana and Taung in North-West.

Alternative online services

UIF have arranged for new employer registrations to be done through BizPortal, and can only accommodate new employer registrations.

Electronic payroll declaration can be may be done by sending live payroll files via email to the Department of Labour at Declarations@labour.gov.za.

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The DEL can also process new employer registrations by downloading the UI.8 and UI.19 forms from www.labour.gov.za and submitting the completed forms to newui8registrations@labour.gov.za.

Manual payroll declarations can also be submitted to the DEL at uif.declarations@labour.gov.za using the the UI.19 form.

Employers can pay their relevant contributions directly to the DEL using the bank details listed on labour.gov.za using their UIF reference number as the payment reference.