UIF TERS fund pays out R16.5-billion
According to the department a new and improved system was put in place last week to make the resubmission of claims easier for cases where information has not changed.
The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) has assured South Africa that all outstanding Temporary Employee/Employer Relief Scheme (TERS) payments will be promptly processed.
This follows a statement on Monday (2 June) in which the fund stated it has already paid out R16.5-billion to date.
The Department of Employment and Labour added that the fund was making good progress on its promise to capture and process May TERS benefit applications.
“Payments this time around should be a lot quicker as the UIF already has details for most of the claimants,” said the department.
On 1 June a total of R1-billion had been processed for payments for 252 378 workers represented by 26 648 employers. In addition to the R 331 530 550 paid and processed for 79 507 workers represented by 13 503 employers which was part of the outstanding payments for April.
“As we indicated when we addressed the country last Friday (29 May), we are committed to ensuring that to the extent possible, the department through the UIF plays its role in shielding workers from the worst effects of the pandemic,” said Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi.
According to the department a new and improved system was put in place last week to make the resubmission of claims easier for cases where information has not changed, the claim will be processed immediately on confirmation by the employer.
“But if information has changed, employers will still be required to capture employee’ details directly on the system or attach the CSV file,” added the department.
The following documentation must be attached for the May submission:
- Proof of TERS payment to employees for April such as electronic bank statement, a letter of acknowledgement of payment between employer and employee (mandatory),
- Re-upload employer bank confirmation letter or latest bank statement,
- Signed approval or acceptance letter from the UIF for April payments between employer and employee, and
- Proof of refund to the UIF attached if applicable.
Nxesi added that he has been assured there will be a significant improvement in the turnaround time of payments.
“Already, with all the information supplied, the UIF was able to pay some claims in 24 hours at best or 48 at worst which is far more than when we started around April 16,” said Nxesi.
An estimated 3.2 million, workers represented by 279 111 employers, have benefitted from the R16.5-billion.
Of this amount, R442-million has been paid through direct deposits to 99 269 workers’ bank accounts.
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