There are numerous ranges of circumstances that can make employees not go to work. There are some that are natural phenomena, while others are planned reasons.
Some of the circumstances can range from illness, maternity, adoption, retrenchment, and others.
Because of these situations, the government of South Africa put in place a system that will support individuals who find themselves in such situations. Even when you cannot go to work, you can earn a small amount of money for your upkeep.
Hence the introduction of the unemployment insurance fund. This act is meant to support individuals who have lost their job due to illness or maternity leave or cannot go to work because of some uncalculated instances like retrenchment.
And as part of this support, the labour department partnered with UIF to make maternity benefits attractive and support women for a longer period.
In this article, we will be looking at how UIF maternity is calculated, UIF payout, the calculation of UIF contribution, and the duration of maternity leave.
How UIF Maternity Is Calculated
Before we look at the UIF calculation on maternity, let us look at the expected contribution. To actually qualify for UIF maternity benefit, you must have been registered for UIF and contributed to UIF for more than 48 months and more.
The duty of UIF registration lies with your employer, but it is important to cross-check.
Upon registration, 2% of your gross salary must go into the UIF account, with each percentage coming from the employer and employee.
The employer must ensure to deduct 1% from your gross monthly salary and also contribute 1% from the company to the registered employee UIF account.
Once you have contributed to the time span and planning to go on maternity leave, you can claim maternity benefits.
The maternity UIF is calculated based on the ceiling amount and the UIF discretion.
The UIF benefit is between 38 – 58% of your salary and not more than R12478
For example: If your salary is R12478 or more, you will receive R155.89 per day, which is about R 4676 per month. You are not eligible to receive more than the maximum amount set by UIF
Suppose your salary is R5000 per month. You can expect about R72.96 per day, amounting to R2188 per month, or if your salary is R 3000 per month, you can expect about R47.62 per day, which is R1428 per month.
This calculation on the UIF maternity can give you a fair idea of what to expect based on your salary.
How UIF payout is calculated
Many employees who are looking to claim UIF benefits always search for how they can calculate the UIF payout. Once you contribute to UIF, when the time comes for you to make claims, the sense of expecting an amount will be heightened.
But as you know, the UIF does not care about your salary or how many years you have worked. What is important is actually your monthly contribution towards UIF and the period you contributed for, which is 48 months or more.
However, there is an accumulation of credit available for individuals who have contributed for less than 48 months. The more credit, the higher the benefit can be. On an important note, once you have contributed for more than 48 months, you are entitled to 365 days of benefit.
To make it simple for our readers, we will give you a mathematical representation of what to expect when you earn an amount of salary.
There is a maximum payout for UIF, which is capped at R17712 per month
So let us assume the average salary is R5000
Which will be: R5000 X12 / 365 will equal daily income that is R164.4
So let us assume leave income is 4,500
Then the daily income will be R 148
R50000 x 12/365 = R1643.84 every day
R50000 – Estimated gross monthly income
12 – Months in the year
365 – number of days in a year
Leave income is R 40000
R40000 x12/365 = R 1315.60
R 1643.84 – R 1315.60 =R 328.24
To get your actual UIF benefits, your leave income must be subtracted from your total monthly income.
You have to note that our daily is at R328.24, which is actually more than the daily benefit. In this case, the difference will be paid.
Is UIF calculated on gross or net
The unemployment insurance fund indicates all contributions must come from monthly earnings, which is your actual salary. All contributors are to ensure their monthly contributions of 2% reach UIF to actually qualify for UIF benefits.
The UIF calculation is on the gross salary and not the salary. In this case, a maximum amount can be deducted to pay UIF.
The amount is deducted even before the salary is paid into the account of the employer. In a large sense, the gross salary is the amount you earned from working before any deduction.
How many months does UIF pay for maternity leave
Women working within a company can always apply for UIF maternity benefits should they qualify for that. The duration for maternity in a large sense and as confirmed by the department of labour is 26 weeks. However, with further complications, an employee on maternity leave can request for additional 26 weeks. This is backed by labour law, but we know this, in the long run, can affect the employers’ productivity.
These are some reasons why some employers may choose not to pay employees on maternity leave. They will choose the option to contribute to UIF so that during this period, they can make maternity claims.
The confirmed month for UIF pay is 4 months which is approximately 121 days. Should you have further complications during your maternity, UIF will only pay for the first 4 months of your maternity after applying for the benefits.
how long does maternity uif take to pay after signing
The unemployment insurance fund serves a lot of individuals, including people on sick leave or has been retrenched.
Women going on maternity leave may ponder about the timeframe to get the UIF payment after signing. It is normal to be concerned about the timeline of the payment.
As part of the reasons to serve, many people who actually qualify for UIF benefits, especially maternity, can put in their application as soon as they start preparing for their leave.
To conclude, it usually takes between 3 to 8 weeks for UIF pay to reach your account after signing. Should you find out that your payment has taken 3 months you can quickly escalate the issue at any nearest labour department office for assistance.
