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Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia
Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia
Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia
Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia
Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia
Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia
Do you have questions regarding Domestic Employee UIF? We answer all of the main questions asked by employers below. Once you know if your Domestic qualifies for UIF, Register for UIF on our site. It’s that simple!
The below are the most frequently asked questions employers have regarding Domestic UIF.
If you have an employee who works 24 hours or more in a month for you, you need to register him/her with the Department of Labour for UIF. This is compulsory and your employee, unfortunately, does not have a choice as to whether he/she would like to be registered as you – the employer – will be the one who will be penalised in the end.
The employer will be registered as an employer of a domestic employee and the employer will receive the UIF number and any employees they have will be placed under the employer’s UIF number for the time in which they work. When your employee leaves you, you terminate them from your profile. Employees do not each receive their own UIF number.
When an employee becomes unemployed due to retrenchment, dismissal or contract expired, or is unable to work due to illness, maternity or adoption leave, they will be able to claim from the fund. This is as long as the employer has been contributing to the fund. If the employer did not contribute, they will need to settle any arrears owed before the employee can claim any UIF. You also need to ensure that salary amounts have been declared for every month that your employee has worked for you. This is very important for calculating outstanding UIF and for your employee to be able to claim.
To avoid penalties, you need to ensure that you register yourself and your employees as soon as they start working for you.
Please note that if you are in arrears, by law you cannot deduct any UIF owing from your employee. You the employer will be liable for both your employees and your UIF contributions for the arrear period as well as any penalty and interest owed. You can only deduct the 1% from your employee from the current month going forward should you not have been deducting as yet.
They will calculate the 2% UIF owed per month for the period owing, a 10% penalty fee will be charged on the UIF amount owed and there is also interest charged, which is calculated daily by the finance department of the UIF, as there are fluctuations.
The employer needs to contribute 1% of the employee’s salary amount per month from their own pocket and the employee also needs to contribute 1% of their salary amount per month and the 2% needs to be paid over to The Department of Labour every month by the employer. This must be done by the 7th of each month e.g. January UIF must be paid by the 7th February to avoid penalties and interest.
UIF for domestic employees started on 1 April 2003, so even if your employee started working for you before that you can only go as far back as 1 April 2003.
The minimum rate for the period 2021 is R19.09 per hour.
Payments to the Department of Labour can be made by:
A domestic worker is a gardener, driver or person who looks after children, the aged, sick, frail or disabled in a private household, but not on a farm. This is the view taken in the Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act, 2002 (Act No. 4 of 2002).
The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) has been established to provide short-term relief to workers, subject to certain conditions, when they become unemployed, or are unable to work because of illness, maternity or adoption leave and also to provide relief to the dependents of deceased contributors.
1) As from 01 April 2002 all workers who work for 24 hours or more per month must contribute to the fund.
2) As from 01 April 2003, the Unemployment Insurance Act requires domestic workers and their employers to contribute to the fund.
3) The following categories of workers are excluded from contributing to the Unemployment Insurance Fund:
All monies received from the employer, whether in cash or in kind. This includes overtime and bonuses, and contributions must be based on this. In addition, all allowances that are received are regarded as remuneration. Examples of allowances are traveling allowances, entertainment allowances as well as food and accommodation allowances.
A worker should contribute 1% of his/her monthly remuneration. In addition to the 1% that is paid by the worker, the employer also contributes 1% his/her employment. The total contribution that is paid is therefore 2% for instance, if a worker earns R1000.00 per month, the employer must deduct 1% of the R1000.00 which is R10.00. In addition the employer must pay R10 in respect of this worker who is in his/her employment. The total of R20 must therefore be forwarded to the Unemployment Insurance Fund. Contributions must be deducted for the current month only and the employer is not allowed to deduct more than one month’s contributions.
The employer pays these contributions to the Fund before the 7th day of every month. Where the 7th day is not a “business day”, payments must be made on or before the last “business day” prior to the 7th day. “Business day” means any day which is not a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday.
No, the domestic worker should be registered separately.
Yes, all three have to register with the UIF. Domestic workers should insist that all their employers register with the UIF.
The Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act, 2002 (Act No. 4 of 2002) defines a “domestic worker” as a worker who performs domestic work in the home of his or her employer and includes a gardener, person employed in the household as a driver of a motor vehicle and a person who takes care on any person in that home.
In terms of the aforementioned Act, domestic workers and their employers became liable to contribute to the Unemployment Insurance Fund from 1 April 2003. Registration cannot be backdated.
Where one household employs more than one domestic worker, only one domestic employer registration is necessary.
If a domestic worker is employed by more than one employer each employer must register separately and ensure that the domestic worker is registered. The aforementioned also applies to agents or bookkeepers administering the affairs of more than one domestic employer.
Separate registrations are also required in cases where a commercial employer is also a domestic employer. Registration and payment of contributions of domestic workers may not be included in that of a commercial enterprise.
People employed by businesses that are run from private households are not regarded as domestic workers.
People employed by corporate entities as gardeners or cleaners in housing complexes are also not regarded as being employed in private households.
Companies, Close Corporations, Partnerships and any other Corporation Bodies are not domestic employers.
It is deemed fraud when beneficiaries who are receiving benefits return to work, but fail to inform the Fund about their new status and continue to draw benefits.
According to the legislation, domestic workers should work no more than 45 hours a week, and should not work more than nine hours a day if they work a five-day week, or more than eight hours a day if they work for more than five days a week.
Domestic workers should work no more than 15 hours a week overtime, and no more than three hours on any one day. They should also receive double pay on Sundays or public holidays.
Employees are entitled to 1 days' paid leave for every 17 days' worked.
Employers whose domestics live on the property may deduct 10% of their salary for accommodation, providing the accommodation complies with the minimum standards laid down in the legislation.
An employer wishing to dismiss a worker must give a week of notice if the domestic has been employed for six months or less and four weeks' notice if he or she has worked for more than six months.
Domestics are also entitled to severance pay of one week for each year of service, as well as four months' unpaid maternity leave.
All employers must register their employees for the Unemployment Insurance Fund, and are advised to sign an employment contract with their domestic worker.
Workers may take up to 6 weeks of sick leave on full pay in a 3-year period. However, during the first 6 months of employment, workers are only entitled to 1 day’s paid sick leave for every 26 days worked. Employers may insist on proof of illness before paying a worker for sick leave.
A medical certificate may be provided by a:
Medical practitioner
Clinic nurse
Traditional healer
Community health worker
Psychologist
An employer may require a medical certificate before paying workers who are absent for more than 2 consecutive days or who are often absent (more than twice in an 8-week period). Fees that are paid for medical treatment by an employer may be deducted from the workers’ pay.
The Compensation Fund, also known as WCA or COIDA (Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act), is a government institution put in place to protect employees and employers should an injury, disease or death occur to any employee “in the line of duty”. The South African Government has set up a special fund to compensate employees for injuries or diseases resulting from work. If you get injured, contract a disease, or die while working, you or your dependents can claim from the Compensation Fund.
Anyone who employs 1 or more workers, must register with the Compensation Fund and pay annual assessment fees.
You cannot register with the Compensation Fund if you do not have at least one employee working for you.
All employers and casual and full-time workers who, because of a workplace accident or work-related disease, are injured, disabled, killed or become ill.
This excludes:
Employers: Employers are protected against civil claims if a worker is injured on duty.
Workers: Workers who are injured on duty can claim compensation for temporary or permanent disablement.
Register with the Compensation Fund and receive your registration number
First thing you need to do is to register with the Compensation Fund so that you can have a registration number. Once registration is completed, you will be required to submit Return of Earnings for however many years you have been an employer. Domestic Employers can only go back as far as 1st March 2020.
Submit Return of Earnings
You can either submit your Return of Earnings on their website or make use of our service. Only once all Return of Earnings have been submitted and the relevant payment/s has been made, can you apply for a Letter of Good Standing.
Compensation Fund Return of Earnings are required to be submitted to the Compensation Fund every year, before 31st March. This fee will cover your employee for the year to come.
You will advise the Compensation Fund what your employee/s have earned for the current assessment year (last 12 months - March to Feb) and what their estimate income will be for the next assessment year.
Year of assessment (assessment year) refers to the period starting on the 1st March every year and ending on the 28th February in the following year. I.e., The 2020 assessment year is the period March 2020 to Feb 2021 and the 2021 assessment year is March 2021 to Feb 2022.
Once all payments have been made, apply for Letter of Good Standing.
A Letter of Good Standing can only be applied for once all the above steps are followed and all payments are made and up to date.
A letter of Good Standing is a document which you can obtain stating that you are compliant (you have submitted all assessment years/return of earnings and have paid all monies owing.)
This letter will be valid for 1 year only or for the current assessment year we are in for which you have submitted the Return of Earning for or from April to March each year.
A Letter of Good Standing expires 30th April every year and is not related to when you applied for the letter.
There is an expiry date on the letter so you will know when to renew.
The annual assessment fee is calculated based on the employees’ earnings and the assessment tariff.
Every year the Compensation Fund reviews the assessment tariff. The assessment tariff is based on the risk associated with the type of work being done.
Private households currently fall under Class M and the assessment tariff is 1.04
Assessment fee = total employees earning ÷ 100 x assessment tariff.
(Based on legislation in Section 83, of the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act)
There is a minimum assessment fee of R381, therefore, if the assessment fee, based on the above calculation works out to be less than R381, you will be charged the difference to make up the minimum fee.
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If you have an employee who works 24 hours or more in a month for you, you need to register him/her with the Department of Labour for UIF. This is compulsory and your employee unfortunately does not have a choice as to whether he/she would like to be registered as you – the employer – will be the one who will be penalised in the end.
The employer will be registered as an employer of a domestic employee and the employer will receive the uif number and any employees they have will be placed under the employer’s uif number for the time in which they work. When your employee leaves you, you terminate them from your profile. Employees do not each receive their own uif number.
To avoid penalties you need to ensure that you register yourself and your employees as soon as they start working for you.
Please note that if you are in arrears, by law you cannot deduct any UIF owing from your employee. You the employer will be liable for both your employees and your UIF contributions for the arrear period as well as any penalty and interest owed. You can only deduct the 1% from your employee from the current month going forward should you not have been deducting as yet.
Arrears is calculated as follows: they will calculate the 2% UIF owed per month for the period owing, a 10% penalty fee will be charged on the UIF amount owed and there is also interest charged, which is calculated daily by the finance department of the UIF, as there are fluctuations.
The employer needs to contribute 1% of the employee’s salary amount per month from their own pocket and the employee also needs to contribute 1% of their salary amount per month and the 2% needs to be paid over to The Department of Labour every month by the employer. This must be done by the 7th of each month e.g. January UIF must be paid by the 7th February to avoid penalties and interest.
UIF for domestic employees started on 1 April 2003, so even if your employee started working for you before that you can only go as far back as 1 April 2003.
Minimum rate for the period 2021 is R19.09 per hour.
Payments to the Department of Labour can be made by:
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