COSATU strongly supports and welcomes the President’s signing of the Unemployment Insurance Amendment Act into law

12 January 2017

COSATU strongly supports and welcomes President Jacob Zuma’s signing of the Unemployment Insurance Amendment Act into law.  The UIF Amendment Act will benefit thousands of unemployed workers and mothers going on maternity leave.

The federation only regret that it took four long years for government to pass this very progressive and badly needed law.  If this critical Act had been adopted earlier it could have helped thousands of mine and other workers ,who have painfully lost their jobs over the past few years.

COSATU strongly supports the Act’s progressive clauses which:

- Increase UIF benefits from 238 to 365 days.

- Increase maternity leave benefits to 66%.

- Cover workers who lost working hours due to reduced time at their work place.

- Separate maternity from UIF benefits and claims.

- Does not exclude workers from UIF and maternity leave benefits if they are members of the Government Employees Pension Fund.

- Include public servants under the UIF and thus be covered in the event of dismissal.

- Include women who had miscarriages during the third trimester or a still born birth.

- Allow the family and/ or nominated beneficiary of deceased claimant to receive their benefits.

- Prohibit the charging of fees by any party to a UIF claimant.

- Allow the Minister for Labour to issue regulations for domestic workers and employees of small businesses and enterprises to ensure that they are covered.

COSATU urges the Department of Labour to announce, when the new act will be gazetted and come into effect.  We further demands that the labour department and the UIF Board should urgently increase the deployment of staff to their offices ,to ensure that UIF claimants are dealt with quickly and professionally.  The days of endless queues at UIF offices need to come to an end.

We are also worried though that several key areas are not covered by the UIF.  These affect hundreds of thousands of vulnerable workers.  They include

- Resignations;

- Informal sector workers (e.g. taxi drivers);

- Paternity, parental and adoption leave; and

Government has agreed to COSATU’s emphatic demand to open further engagements on how to expand access to the UIF and cover these missing areas.

Issued by Matthew Parks, COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator, 12 January 2017