UIF for Employers: What You Pay and What Workers Get

Employ anyone for more than 24 hours a month and you must register for the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF). The cost is 2% of each worker's pay, split equally: you deduct 1% from the worker and add 1% of your own, capped at R354.24 a month in total per worker. It is one of the cheapest registrations you will ever do, and skipping it leaves your workers with nothing if the work dries up.‍‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‍

Who must register

UIF is governed by the Unemployment Insurance Act 63 of 2001 and administered by the Department of Employment and Labour (labour.gov.za). Every employer with workers employed more than 24 hours a month must register. If you are already registered for PAYE with SARS, UIF comes bundled: you declare and pay it on the monthly EMP201 on eFiling. Not PAYE-registered? Declare and pay directly on the Department's own portal, uFiling.

Some workers are excluded: those working under 24 hours a month, public servants, learners and apprentices, foreign nationals on temporary contracts, workers on a monthly state pension, and commission-only earners.

Rates and the ceiling

• Employee: 1% of monthly remuneration, maximum R177.12.
• Employer: 1%, maximum R177.12.
• Total: 2%, capped at R354.24 a month.

The cap exists because contributions are only calculated on earnings up to R17,712 a month (R212,544 a year). That ceiling was last revised on 1 June 2021 and was still current in 2026, but it can be updated by ministerial notice, so check SARS's UIF page if you are reading this later.

Payment is due within 7 days after the end of each month, via eFiling, EFT or at major bank branches.

What workers can claim

A contributing worker can claim:

• Unemployment benefits if dismissed or retrenched (not if they resigned or absconded); claim within 6 months.
• Illness benefits when unable to work through illness; claim within 12 months of onset.
• Maternity benefits, paid at up to 66% of salary capped at the R17,712 ceiling; claim up to 12 months after the birth.
• Parental and adoption benefits for qualifying leave events.
• Dependant benefits if a contributor dies.

Workers earn 1 credit day for every 4 days worked, to a maximum of 365 credit days, which means roughly 12 months of benefit at the longest. The daily benefit slides with income, from about 60% for the lowest earners down to 38% at the ceiling, where the maximum payout works out to R6,730.88 a month.

The sole-prop blind spot

You, as a sole proprietor, cannot contribute to or claim UIF for yourself, because you cannot be your own employee and you cannot become "unemployed" from your own business. You must still register and contribute for your workers; the cover just never extends to the owner. Factor that into your own safety net.

Worked example: Lerato hires her first assistant

Lerato is a tiler trading as a sole proprietor. She takes on one assistant at R5,000 a month, well over 24 hours of work a month, so UIF registration is compulsory. She is not registered for PAYE (at R60,000 a year her assistant earns below the income tax threshold), so she registers as an employer on uFiling instead of eFiling.

Each month she deducts 1% (R50) from the assistant's pay, adds her own 1% (R50), and pays R100 to the Fund within 7 days of month end, declaring the assistant's details on uFiling as she goes. If she later registers for PAYE, the UIF declaration simply moves onto her monthly EMP201.

Two years on, work slows and Lerato has to retrench the assistant. Having worked roughly 480 days over the two years, the assistant has earned about 120 credit days (1 for every 4 worked), which is around 4 months of UIF benefit while job hunting. Lerato herself, as the owner, has no UIF cover at all, which is exactly why the registration protects the worker and not her.

Common mistakes

• Paying cash and skipping UIF. The contribution is R100 a month on a R5,000 wage; the back-pay, penalties and CCMA optics of being caught are far worse.
• Deducting 2% from the worker. The split is 1% worker, 1% employer; taking both from wages is unlawful.
• Forgetting the 7-day deadline. Declarations and payment are monthly, not annual.
• Assuming the owner is covered. Sole props cannot claim for themselves.
• Confusing UIF with COIDA. UIF covers unemployment and maternity; injuries on site are COIDA's job (see COIDA and the Letter of Good Standing).

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