COVID-19 UIF Ters riots KZN Gauteng

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Affected by riots? UIF TERS now available to Gauteng and KZN workers

A directive has been issued for workers affected by the KZN and Gauteng riots to receive UIF TERS funds even if they don’t usually qualify.

COVID-19 UIF Ters riots KZN Gauteng

Image via: Adobe Stock

Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi announced on Wednesday that plans are in motion to provide workers adversely affected by the violent riots and looting that took place earlier this month access to the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) Temporary Employer/Employee Relief scheme (TERS), but said that this relief strategy will run separately to the special COVID-19 TERS scheme. 

Nxesi said that he has ordered his department to draft a directive that will ensure that some 75 000 employees affected by the riots in Gauteng and KZN have access to TERS funds, even if they don’t usually qualify for the benefit. Nxesi also said that funds will be disbursed directly to employees in order to mitigate potential fraud. 

“Businesses or companies in distress following the unrest may also apply for the normal TERS,” Nxesi said. 

Over 75 000 workers affected by riots  

Speaking during a briefing on Wednesday afternoon, Nxesi said that the Department of Employment and Labour is committed to assist workers who have been affected by the recent events in KZN and Gauteng. 

“According to our own assessment, about 75 000 employees have been affected by the destruction in the two provinces, and this may lead to temporary lay-offs or outright retrenchments,” he said. “The employment insurance fund has a basket of funds that can serve as an intervention to support them.”

He noted that the UIF currently offers no benefit suited to this specific situation, saying that the COVID-19 TERS benefit was established “as an intervention for specific state of disaster situations, and therefore the current benefits are the only interventions available to over the affected workers”. 

“There must be no confusion between the COVID-19 TERS and the normal TERS,” he said. 

“However, in order to ensure that the basic tenets of the Act are not violated, the department is drafting a special directive dealing with the affected workers in the two provinces,” he announced.

TERS benefit available to distressed Gauteng and KZN workers  

Nxesi said that the directive aims to ensure that workers who don’t usually qualify for this benefit due to non-compliance of the employer with the act are able to access TERS benefits.

“However, I want to emphasise that it will not be a free for all. The criteria to determine who qualifies is going to be stringent and payments will be based on the resources available,” he added.

Nxesi conceded that the UIF has limited funds available, but that work is underway to assess the liability required in order to provide relief for those affected by the recent unrest. 

“Whilst it is our desire to pay all the affected workers, it should be borne in mind that the available resources are limited,” he said. “I have therefore instructed officials to gather data of businesses that have been affected, and also to perform an analysis of those who will afford to carry their employees’ salaries during this period.” 

How to apply for UIF TERS benefit  

In order to apply for the TERS benefit, Employers should go to the CCMA, and can read up further details on how to qualify HERE

Nxesi said that all details pertaining to who qualifies, payment structure, the application process and the duration of the payment period will be outlined in the direction when it becomes available. 

“Just as it is the case with the COVID-19 TERS Benefit, we want the employer to play a key role in the application process. The details of the process will be outlined in the Direction, however, what is important is that the benefit will have to be paid directly into the account of the employee,” he said.

“This will make the benefit immediately available to assist the employee, and it will reduce the risk of possible fraud.”