Maternity UIf Calculator 2024: How Is UIf Calculated For Maternity Leave?

Benefits and incentives are important for staff motivation. It boosts their intrinsic desire to continue their job with a particular organization and most importantly, it boosts employee loyalty.

Working as an employee is tasking and comes with several unforeseeable circumstances however, some predictability can be encountered and one of such experiences is maternity.

Maternity Uif Calculator: How Is Uif Calculated For Maternity Leave?

Maternity pertains to working women who are pregnant and they have the right under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCE) to take maternity leave as long as they meet the preliminary requirements importantly which are pregnancy.

Interestingly, maternity has been part of human existence since time immemorial and will continue to be, such occurrence once it takes place cannot be reversed but has to be given its due time to mature and phase out.

For this reason, there is a need for women undergoing maternity to be duly settled in terms of their earnings about their maternity leave. This can be done effectively using the maternity UIF Calculator. The UIF, therefore, stands for Unemployment Insurance Fund.

It is common for South African workers to make use of the maternity UIF calculator to calculate benefits to be paid to working women that are pregnant and are due to take their maternity leave.

The UIF Benefits

The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) is a department established by the South African government to make sure employers and employees make regular contributions to the fund.

With that being said, workers that must benefit from the UIF must be a contributor to the scheme if not, they are not in any way eligible to apply for or enjoy any benefit from the UIF scheme.

It may interest you to know that The UIF benefit ranges from 38 – 58% of your salary (up to a maximum of R12478). For instance, let’s say your salary is R12478 or higher, the percentage of your UIF benefit that you will receive is R155 or if your salary is R 3000 p/m you can expect about R47.

On the other hand, if you are been paid by the hour, to get the exact amount you are to apply for, add together your last 6-months salary and then divide by 6. Do the same with your UIF contributions.

The amount you get will be the monthly salary and UIF contribution that will be filled in your UI.19 and UI2.7 forms.

Most importantly, the maximum gross salary that is used to calculate your maternity benefit is R14,872 as of the year 2015 (this is subject to change every year).

Claiming Maternity Benefits

Workers (pregnant women) on maternity leave are mandated to apply for benefits at their nearest labour centre in person or send someone else to go and represent them. They must ensure to go along with all necessary documents. The interesting part is that workers on maternity leave have the right to claim from the UIF.

For this reason, workers that want to claim maternity benefits should follow the steps below:

Step 1: Get ready the documents highlighted below

Before workers can claim, they must get the following documents ready:

13-digit bar-coded ID or passport;
Form UI-19 duly completed by the employer
Form UI-2.7 duly completed by the employer
Form UI-2.8 for banking details
Application form (Form UI-2.3)
Follow-up form (Form UI-4)
Present a medical certificate from a doctor or birth certificate of the baby

Step 2: Visit the Nearest Labour Centre with the Required Documents

One step is gathering the required documents, another step is to go to the nearest labour centre in person to submit the documents. However, due to one or more circumstances that will hinder them to come in person, they can arrange for someone else to go in their place.

Upon their visitation to the labour centre, staff at the centre will assist them in any way to processes and give them more information.

Step 3: Adhere to all given Instructions

You will receive several instructions that will be given to you at the labour centre Staff at the labour centre may ask pregnant workers to go to the doctor again or to visit the labour centre at certain times. Workers should do what they ask, or they may not be able to claim.

Number of Leave Days

It is earlier mentioned that pregnant workers are entitled to go on maternity leave. As such, persons under this category are eligible for at least 4 consecutive months of maternity leave.

Who Is Eligible To Claim Uif Maternity Benefits?

Only South African citizens and especially those that have a bar-coded ID Book.
Employees (or members of close corporations) who have been actively contributing to the UIF every month, and are not being paid their full salaries while they are on maternity leave can claim for up to four (4) months.
Employees who had a miscarriage in their third trimester or are delivered of a stillborn child may claim from the fund for six (6) weeks.
Employees who resign during pregnancy or maternity leave may claim up to four (4) months of maternity benefits.
Non-residents (Foreign Nationals) with work permits have been contributing to the fund.

When To Submit Application For Maternity Uif

Knowledge is power, and therefore it is necessary to be aware of the time frame when you can submit your claim. As provided in the policy (law), it states that applicants have to submit their application at least 8 weeks before commencement of maternity leave.

It is best to submit your applications once you are no longer paid your full remuneration/salary by your employer. The reason for this is that the computer program used in the Department of Labour cannot process applications before the maternity leave has officially started.

How Long Does It Take To Receive Benefits Paid?

You can claim for a maximum of 121 consecutive days (equal to 4 months) from the Department of Labour.

However, the payment depends on the length of your employment before submitting your application. The reason has been that the Labour department will use the last four (4) years of your employment record to calculate the number of credit days you have.

Also, if you have been actively contributing to UIF for the last four years, you are eligible to go on four (4) months of maternity leave. For every six (6) months worked, you can claim one (1) month of UIF maternity benefits from the Department of Labour.

In the same vein, if you apply, you can only claim for the time you are actually on maternity leave. That means, if you take three months of maternity leave, you can only claim three months of UIF maternity benefits.

How Long Will It Take To Receive First Payment?

Ideally, the process should take between 3-6 weeks from the date the claim was submitted for the application to be approved and for the first payment to be made. That is why you should be prompt in submitting your application so that payment can be made appropriately.

Understand that payment is only made for each day that you can provide evidence that you are on maternity leave. This implies that upon the successful approval of your application, you still have to provide proof that you are still on maternity leave every month.

How is Payment Made

The benefit of your maternity UIF leave will be deposited directly into your bank account. That is why you must provide your account and not a joint account during the submission of your application.

Closing

The UIF benefit is limited to South African citizens who contribute to the UIF scheme on monthly basis. Non-residents with work permits and that contribute to the scheme also are eligible.

So, we hope you have been enlightened and now have all the definitive information you need on how to go about applying for your maternity leave and as well apply for and claim your maternity UIF benefit.