UIF announces extended opening hours

“A decision to extend the opening hours of UIF service points and increase capacity has been taken in anticipation of increased demand for real-time services, after the Pretoria High Court issued an interim injunction in late August 2024 preventing a service provider from implementing a new contract for support and maintenance services for the uFiling platform,” the Department of Employment and Labour said in a statement.

uFiling is an online platform used by clients and employers to apply for UIF benefits or to register businesses with the UIF, declare employees and make contributions to the Fund.

The platform is not connected to the main UIF system used to adjudicate and process claims.

“As the uFiling platform is not receiving any support or maintenance at this time, its services have been suspended. Since the suspension of uFiling, the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) has processed over 181 000 claims at service points across the country, totalling R419 607 185,” the department said.

Extended opening hours will be provided from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at UIF service points in work centres during the month of September as follows:

• In Gqeberha, East London and Qonce in the Eastern Cape province.

• In the Pietermaritzburg and Richards Bay work centres in KwaZulu-Natal.

• In the work centres of Emalahleni, Secunda, Middleburg, Malelane and Mbombela in the province of Mpumalanga.

• At the work centre in Mahikeng, Potchefstroom, Lichtenburg, Klerksdorp, Vryburg, Christiana, Brits, Taung and Rustenburg in the North West Province.

• Cape Town, Paarl, Mitchells Plain and Bellville in the Western Cape.

Employer Registration

New employer registrations can be made through BizPortal, available at https://www.bizportal.gov.za/services.aspx.

The ministry has asked its customers to note that BizPortal is only intended for the registration of employers and will not be able to register employees. Employee registration can be done at a nearby work center.

Registration can also be done by downloading forms UI.8 and UI.19 from www.labour.gov.za and submitting the completed forms to the email address az.vog.ruobal@snoitartsiger8iuwen.

Employee declaration

Employers with electronic payroll systems can report their employees by sending live payroll files to the email address az.vog.ruobal@snoitaralceD or by visiting a nearby work center for services.

In case of manual declarations, an employer can download a UI.19 form from www.labour.gov.za and submit a completed form by email to [email protected].

Regarding contributions, the Ministry indicated that an employer pays his contributions to the UIF before the 7th day of each month. When the 7th day is not a “working day” such as a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, payments must be made no later than the last working day.

“UIF contributions are made up of 2% of an employee’s salary. 1% is deducted from an employee’s salary and 1% is contributed by the employer.

“Employers registered for tax purposes and/or the Skills Development Levy (SDL) must pay their contributions directly to the South African Revenue Services (Sars),” the department said.

Employers can also pay their contributions using the bank details provided on the Department of Employment and Labour website www.labour.gov.za and use their UIF reference number as a reference for payment.

“Through queue management, monitoring of operations and reassignment of staff, the UIF has been able to adequately manage the volumes of applications across the country. The Fund is confident that by extending working hours, it will be able to maintain the status quo while developing alternative online solutions for customers and employers,” the ministry said.