The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) is calling on employers, who are dissatisfied with their COVID-19 TERS application or payment process, to lodge a dispute or appeal with the fund in order for cases to be reviewed by a dispute committee.
According to UIF Assistant Director: Provincial Operations in the Western Cape, David Matibidi, some employers could not cope with the quality standard due to many changes and controls that have been implemented on the self-service portal, and that process cannot be compromised as part of the requirement.
Matibidi was addressing employers attending the UIF employer advocacy session in Paarl on Tuesday.
The Department of Employment and Labour introduced the Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) on 27 March 2020 to compensate employees that were adversely affected by the COVID-19 lockdown period, which resulted in many workplaces shutting down operations.
“The kind of disputes employers can appeal relates to failed bank verifications, password reset/access to the TERS platform, payment of unverified foreign nationals, CSV failures, including for periods prior to the closure date, declarations, unprocessed claims where error messages have been provided, but corrective action was not taken by the employer,” Matibidi said.
Disputes and appeals are open for the following lockdown/claim period and sectors:
- 16 October 2020 to 31 December 2020 – hospitality, liquor and tourism
- 01 January 2021 to 15 March 2021 – hospitality, liquor and tourism
- 16 March 2021 to 27 June 2021 – events management/stadiums/golf course
- 28 June 2021 to 25 July 2021 – hospitality, liquor and tourism
Employers can lodge disputes via the call centre on 0800 030 007 and will be required to submit a dispute form, which will be accompanied by the relevant supporting document and motivation for not lodging the claim timeously.
Assistant Director on Compliance, Shaka Dladla, said the fund is now moving from manual processes and is encouraging employers to utilise its online systems to register, declare and make contributions to the fund using the uFiling system.
Dladla said employers can now access the e-Compliance Certificate (eCC) system for free online, which completely replaces the manual application of compliance certificates.
“The UIF has implemented the online eCC system with a view to improve services to our clients and other related matters. Employers, agents or tax practitioners can easily use the eCC system to apply for compliance documents online and validate the authenticity of compliance certificates,” he said.
He urged employers to ensure that monthly contributions are paid either to SARS or the UIF on or before the 7th of each month to avoid incurring interests or penalties.