Help for my employees
In order to minimise the loss of jobs during COVID-19, the government has a number of relief programmes to assist businesses and their employees.
SARS ETI Programme Expansion - Available from the South African Revenue Service
In order to minimise the loss of jobs during COVID-19, the government will be expanding the Employment Tax Incentive (ETI) Programme for a period of 4 months, from 1 April 2020 to 31 July 2020 for all private sector employees earning less than R6500 per month.
The expansion includes:
- Increasing the amount claimable under ETI.
- Allowing a monthly claim of R500 for employees who are currently not eligible for the ETI scheme.
- Accelerating the payment of employment tax incentive reimbursements from twice a year to monthly.
The qualifying criteria are the following:
- Employees must earn less than R6500 per month.
Changes will be in effect as from 1 April 2020.
For further information, please visit
Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) - Available from the Department of Labour
Due to COVID-19, non-essential companies had to shut down, with many unable to pay their employees during the shutdown period. The TERS scheme has been created to assist companies to pay their employees.
A business that needs to close its operations for a period of three months or less due to COVID-19 will qualify for the TERS benefit, provided that:
- The company is registered with the UIF.
- The company's closure can directly be linked to COVID-19.
- Prior to application, please ensure the following documents have been prepared.
All documents submitted will be subject to verification:
- Letter of Authority, on an official company letterhead granting permission to an individual specified to lodge a claim on behalf of the company.
- MOA (completion of the agreement between UIF, Bargaining Council and Employer).
- CPrescribed template that will require critical information from the employer (obtained by emailing: Covid19UIFclaims@labour.gov.za).
- Evidence/payroll as proof of last three months employee(s) salary(ies).
- Confirmation of bank account details in the form of certified latest bank statement.
To apply, send a request to
You will receive an automated response outlining the procedure and documents required.
For further information, please visit
Compensation Fund - Department of Labour - Available from the Department of Labour
If any of your employees fall ill due to exposure to COVID-19 at the workplace, you can apply for compensation through the Department of Labour's Compensation Fund.
Should an employee be diagnosed with occupationally acquired COVID-19, claims must be made online or manually using the correct ICD10 code - U07.1.
To qualify, the employee needs to have an occupationally acquired COVID-19 diagnosis:
- Occupational exposure to known source of COVID-19.
- Reliable diagnosis of COVID-19.
- Approved official trip or travel history to countries at high risk on work assignment.
- Presumed high-risk work environment.
- Chronological sequence between work exposure and development of symptoms.
Claims must be submitted to the following channels using the correct ICD10 code - U07.1:
Online:
Manual:
- Compensation Fund: covid19claims@labour.gov.za or phone 0860 105 350
- Rand Mutual Assurance: contactcentre@randmutual.co.za or phone 086 022 2132
- Federated Employees Mutual: FEM-Registry@fem.co.za or phone 011 359 4300
For further information, please visit
