Employer claims workers’ UIF money, but then doesn’t pay them?
"We checked our UIF status online and it said we were supposed to get the money"
Security guards and personnel at a local security company are fuming because they say their employer claimed their Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), using their details, yet they haven’t seen a cent of the money.
A Ladysmith Gazette reporter conducted an interview with one of the guards on condition of anonymity. The guard told the journalist that during this time of the Covid-19 pandemic, they are considered as essential workers, thus they have not taken any leave from work.
According to the guard, they all received full salaries, so there was no reason for their employer to claim UIF on their behalf. “Our employer used our personal information to claim UIF. We checked our UIF status online and it said we were supposed to get the money, but our employer has never given us the cash. When we asked him about this, he said he had reversed the money.”
Department of Labour provincial communications officer Mr Nhlanhla Khumalo commented that if this is indeed the case, then what the employer did is fraud.
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“The Employment & Labour Department has received a number of similar cases of UIF applications and payments. The department’s Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) is embarking on a thorough investigation of such cases,” said Khumalo.
The Ladysmith Gazette repeatedly tried to get in contact with the owner of the security company, but in vain, as his cell-phone was not answered.
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