Way open for filing wage relief claims

The updated directives for the extension of the wage protection scheme for workers affected by the Covid lockdown have been signed, paving the way for the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) to process new claims.

Employment & labour minister Thulas Nxesi has signed the directives, which were gazetted on Wednesday, the UIF said on Thursday. Last month President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) would be extended to March 15. It now covers the period from October 15 2020, when the benefit originally came to an end, until March.

The UIF and social partners met at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) after proposals were tabled by the fund on how Ters would be extended to sectors still affected by Covid-19 lockdown regulations and also to employees with comorbidities and those older than 60 years who cannot be reasonably accommodated at work.

The UIF said after much deliberation agreement was reached that the extension should cover businesses or establishments in sectors hardest hit by the lockdown such as tourism, liquor, hospitality, conferencing events and activities in related value chains.

“The social partners impressed on us that we need to carefully consider other business activities that get indirectly impacted if the main business they render a service to is not operational,” acting UIF commissioner Marsha Bronkhorst said. “For example, a bottling supplier in the liquor industry gets affected if production is stopped or reduced by the alcohol manufacturer, and so does the wine or grain farmer who supplies raw material to the manufacturer. So, the invaluable input from social partners has assisted in drawing up the comprehensive list.”

The UIF said according to the new directive signed by the minister the Ters benefit is only applicable to employees who contributed to the fund.

Two new payment periods will be covered, the first from October 16 to December 31 2020 and the second from January 1 to March 15 2021.