Workers facing distress due to the COVID-19 lockdown continue to find relief, thanks to the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).
According to the Employment and Labour Department, the fund has made progress towards the COVID-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) while ramping up normal benefits to ensure that workers are not inconvenienced during the lockdown.
“Just today [Wednesday], the Unemployment Insurance Fund has disbursed R92 million, which brings the total paid to date from April 16 to just under R1.8 billion. These payments cover up to 790 150 workers. In some cases, the claims have been paid within 24 hours of presentation,” said the department in a statement.
Meanwhile, Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi said the fund will continue to process payments for ordinary benefits such as pregnancy, retrenchments and other paybacks – which have amounted to R804 million since the beginning of April
“As enjoined by the President, we continue making sure we ease the load of lockdown. We still appeal to more employers to ensure that they apply for relief for their employees to ensure we do not leave anyone behind,” he said.
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