Last Updated on March 13, 2023


The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) is a South African government department set up to make sure employers and employees make regular contributions to the fund. Employees that find themselves without employment can claim against the fund. If you have been contributing to the fund for a specific period, are no longer employed, or cannot work due to illness or pregnancy, you are entitled to access the funds. You are probably asking, how much does the UIF pay? Well, here is the UIF calculator to help you know exactly how much money you can claim depending on your contributions.
The Unemployment Insurance Fund is a short-term relief from the government of South Africa, providing support to workers that become unemployed or are unable to work.
It would be best to keep in mind that you must have applied to the fund and taken the necessary steps to claim the benefits when you need them. So, how is UIF calculated in South Africa?
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How much will the UIF pay me?
The amount you will receive as UIF payments will depend on your monthly salary when you were employed. Therefore, you might want to know how to calculate UIF benefits to know precisely how much you will be benefiting from the fund.
The contributions that employers have to cut from their employees should be 1% of their monthly salary, excluding commissions. In addition to the 1% the employer should contribute, employers forward another 1%, making the total contribution to the fund 2%.
For example, if a labourer earns R2,000 a month, the employee has to deduct 1% of the salary, which is R20, and the employer also has to pay an extra R20 for the worker. Therefore, the total amount paid to the UIF South Africa is R40.
If the labourer earns more than the annual, monthly, or weekly maximum earnings ceiling, they must also contribute to the fund.
For example, if a worker earns R10,000 a month and their monthly earning ceiling is R1,096, their contribution will be deducted from the R8,836.
What is the UIF limit for?
If you have been making UIF payments for four years or more, you can claim up to 365 days. However, if you have been contributing for less than four years, you can only claim one day out of every five days you worked while contributing to the fund.
How do you calculate the UIF?
Are you trying to figure out how to calculate UIF payout? The first step of knowing how much you can claim is by working out your daily rate of remuneration. For example, if you are earning monthly, multiply your monthly salary by twelve and divide by 365.
For example, if you earn R5,000 a month, then your daily remuneration will be
5000 (salary) * 12 (months per year) / 365 (days a year) = R164.38 per day
The UIF payout system makes payments in the percentage of your earned salary while contributing to it. The highest amount that can be paid is 58% of what you earn per day. The high percentage applies to lower-paid workers.
Therefore, if you made R164.38 every day, and you qualify to get 58% of this amount, you will receive:
R164.38 * 58/100 = R95.34 daily
Of course, you have to consider the days you have worked and contributed to the UIF. The rule is that if you have been contributing for more than four years, you are entitled to 365 days’ worth of benefits.
So, how is UIF payout calculated if you have contributed for a short time? Your benefits will be calculated according to the credits accumulated. You earn one credit for every five days worked.
In the above example, with a salary of R5,000, you have a daily remuneration of R164.38. Now assume that you have been making the payment for 200 days when working.
To work out this claim, you divide the number of days you have been employed by 5.
Example:
200 days/5 = 40
Take the 33 and multiply it by your daily remuneration, which is R164.38. You will get R7,232.72 as your claim.
How long does a payout take?
The whole claiming process can take up to three hours. The first payment will be made to your bank account two to four days after the process is complete. You must also claim within six months after your last day of employment.
Increase in UIF contributions
The Minister of Finance increased the monthly maximum remuneration for the Unemployment Insurance Fund contributions to R17,712 from R14,872 monthly. This means that the monthly UIF contributions per respective employer would now be limited to R177.12 per month, up from R148.72 per month.
Exemptions from UIF
Every employee should make UIF contributions unless they are exempted or excluded by the relevant laws. Independent contractors that are deemed to be employees are exempt from UIF contributions. The following instances exempt an employee from UIF contributions:
- Works less than 24 hours every month.
- Learner in terms of the SDL Act.
- Foreigner, leaving South Africa at the end of service.
- Earns commission only.
- Income from pension, superannuation or retiring allowance only.
- Public servant (these include the president, any Member of Parliament, or people in any sphere of government service)
Employers must know that they cannot deduct more than 1% of the employees’ salaries; the extra money must be paid to the workers. Labourers should also know that they will be committing fraud if they still enjoy the benefits while working at the same time.
If you have qualified for the fund, then the UIF calculator will help you claim your unemployment payout. So, be prepared and apply now to enjoy the unemployment benefits.