Workers not registered with UIF among those financially worst-hit

Five weeks into the national COVID-19 lockdown, workers who are not registered with the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), are among the hardest-hit financially.

For those registered with the UIF under the COVID-19 Temporary Relief Scheme provision, the fund will pay employers the cost of employees’ salaries for up to three months. This was announced earlier by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

To ease the burden on workers, the UIF COVID-19 TERS Scheme, since April 16, has paid out funds to the tune of R3 billion benefiting 862 550 workers.

Apply for TERS on behalf of your employees on the link below: https://t.co/uUKcZesnSn pic.twitter.com/sFJprJpIIz

— Thulas Nxesi (@NxesiThulas) April 27, 2020

However, workers not registered with the fund have no financial relief:

“I have been working for this family from 2018 early as a domestic worker. As soon as the lockdown started I was told not to come because I will bring the virus into their home and then I understood. I was paid on that Friday for what I was owed for that whole month and that was it. I was employed through the agency and my agency told my employers they must register me for UIF, which they didn’t so I didn’t have a problem because I was getting my salary. But then I only realised now that you know what, that this UIF is important so it is really affecting me and now I can’t even go to the Labour department to claim because I am not even registered.”

Cathy Mbhata from Alexandra, north of Johannesburg, is one of many South Africans who have been severely affected by the lockdown.

For the entire month she hasn’t been able to work, resulting in her not receiving a salary to provide for her family. Her employer has also failed to register her with the Unemployment Insurance Fund, which could have provided her with a lifeline during this time that she’s unable to work.

Mbhata says she hopes that some sort of relief will be offered to her so that she can feed her three young children.

“I think the government should come house to house and listen to our story. Look at what we are facing day in and day out because if they say come and register it’s going to be long queues there. We are going to get this virus and R350 is not a lot of money, we have rent to pay at the moment and the landlords are speaking, they want their rent and we don’t have anything to pay,” says Mbhata.

Workers whose employers haven’t registered them with the UIF aren’t the only ones who have been financially crippled by the lockdown. Small business owners are also taking a heavy knock.

Rodalph Chetty, who’s the owner of a mechanical workshop in Benrose, south of the Johannesburg CBD is also not registered with the UIF. He’s been operating his small business for just a few years doing mechanical repairs with the assistance of casual workers.

Because he was not able to get work on a regular basis to generate a steady flow of income, he was not able to register with the UIF. He says the lockdown has left him with a major financial burden, as his business doesn’t fall in the category of companies that will be assisted with financial relief by the government.

“With regards to business, it’s been really challenging for us and I run a very small business it’s a mechanical workshop and I have 2 or 3 casual workers that come in 2 times or 3 times a week. I am not registered with anything and all my clients are actually passing trade. So with this lockdown it’s difficult being closed. For me it looks like it’s for bigger businesses. There is nothing out there for us and I don’t see anything that’s provided for us,” says Chetty.

Chetty says he has barely managed to pull through the month and put food on the table for his family. However, he worries that the casual workers who assist him and receive a daily stipend, may not be as fortunate.

“If I look at it for me, I am supporting four different families and now with the lockdown I don’t see anything for us. There is nothing for us actually. So we just have to wait out the lockdown and in the meantime people are starving and my guys don’t have anything to eat at home and there is nothing we can do. We have to just sit and wait,” says Chetty.

While many South Africans are now in a state of panic because they don’t know when they will receive their next paycheck. Labour Analyst Andrew Levy says workers should alert the Department of Labour if their employer hasn’t registered them with the UIF.

“In point of fact, by not registering and paying UIF the employer is committing an offence and he is not likely to put up his hand to be counted when people ask are you committing an offence by not paying UIF. In every case the employee has the right to, I would say in the first matter to refer the matter to the Department of Labour or if necessary to the UIF fund itself,” says Levy.

In many instances employees fear victimisation and even dismissal from their jobs, should they report their employer.

However, Levy says the Labour Relations Act together with the CCMA, will protect employees if they are reporting the matter to protect their rights.

“There is no direct and immediate link to a CCMA application because this falls under a different jurisdiction but where the CCMA may become important is that if an employee whistleblows or in fact takes any action to protect their rights then they are protected by the Labour Relations Act and by the CCMA applying the Act by any reprisal by way of dismissal,” says Levy.

UIF Commissioner Teboho Maroping says if an employer has not registered workers with the UIF, they will face harsh penalties if reported.

“Employees can report their employers if they are not complying to the UIF they can go to [email protected]. Employers that are not registering their workers, we will charge them interest on the money that was due to us and then we also charge them penalties,” says Maroping.

In this video, the UIF says employers might be missing out on funding due to various factors

[embedded content]