National Lockdown – What Now? – 9th Update

After lengthy engagements between stakeholders and the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL), various changes have been affected as relates to the application for UIF-TERS benefits, including the correction of several issues in the Draft Memorandum of Undertaking (MOA).

Furthermore, I have received several reports from Companies who had previously applied to the UIF fund for TERS benefits since Tuesday the 14th of April 2020 that the DEL is requesting them to resubmit their applications as per the following email [Formatting and errors as per original email]:

Dear Applicant

Thank you for your application to avail National Disaster TERS benefits. We confirm receipt of your email.

However, due to huge number of applications received, it has been noticed that many of the applicants have failed to submit the employee information file( National Disaster Payment – Excel Template (Attachment 1))in the requested format as per the attached Guideline document

(“2 – Guidelines – To Covert_Excel_TO_CSV V2.docx”). This lead to unsuccessful loading of many files sent by you by the Automation tool which only accepts the fine format mentioned in the Guideline document.

Its very important that all applicants strictly follow the rules of Guideline document as there is no manual process to validate the information and automated process do not accepts any deviation from the guideline.

We request all the applicants to RE-SUBMIT their application again to covid19UIFclaims@labour.gov.za adhering to the format that is requested in the Guideline document. As payment can be processed for only the applications which meets the guidelines.

Please re-submit the employee information file together with other supporting documents ( note attachmetn 10 : Information sheet ) for guidance / assistance.

Kind Regards

DIRECTOR-GENERAL

This email is now accompanied by the following attachments (Click to Download):

With this new information, along with various explanatory notes and engagements with DEL Officials, we have compiled the following explanation to assist with completing the required documents for your ease of use:

Which MOA should I use?

As you can see, there are now four (4) distinct MOA’s to use, the decision of which MOA applies to you can be summarized as follows:

If you Employ less than ten (10) Employees, you do not need to complete an MOA.
If you are an Employer and require that the UIF pay the TERS funds into your own bank account for distribution to Employees by yourself, you make use of the default MOA (3 MOA UIF EMPLOYER.pdf).
If you are a Body, Organisation or Council that cannot pay the Benefits to Employees and therefore requires that the UIF pay the TERS funds directly to Employees, you make use of MOA D (6 MOA D.pdf).
Similarly, MOA B and MOA C are for use by Bargaining Councils which Can (4 MOA B.pdf) or Cannot (5 MOA C.pdf) pay Employees directly.

Do I need to open a separate Bank Account?

Only Bargaining Councils are required to open separate Bank Accounts for the payment of UIF TERS Benefits, ordinary Employers do not need to and can use their ordinary Payroll Bank Account.

Where do I complete the Company Details on the MOA?

It is no longer necessary for you to complete anything on the MOA, however the Designated Person who is submitting the requisite documents on behalf of the Employer should sign each page and ensure that the necessary attachments as per Annexure A of the MOA are attached when submitting.

How do I complete the Excel Template (Disaster Payment Template)?

UIFReferenceNumber* – This is Required and refers to the Company’s UIF Reference Number (7 Digits / 1 Digit) which will be the same on each line.
Shutdown From (DD-MMMM-YYYY)ONLY* – This is Required and refers to the date from which the Employee commenced reduced working hours, leave or temporary lay-off in the Format 27-Mar-2020.
TadeName* – This is Required and refers to the Name of the Employer which will therefore be the same on each line.
PAYE Number – This is not required and will refer to each Employee’s PAYE Number as per the ordinary payroll.
Contact Number* – This is Required and refers to the Employer’s Contact Number which will therefore be the same on each line.
Email Address* – This is Required and refers to the Employer’s Email Address which will therefore be the same on each line.
IDNumber* – This is Required and refers to each Employee’s RSA ID number.
FirstName* – This is Required and refers to each Employee’s first name as it appears in their RSA ID.
LastName* – This is Required and refers to each Employee’s Last Name (Surname) as it appears on their RSA ID.
Remuneration(Monthly)* – This is Required and refers to each Employee’s ordinary monthly Remuneration. It should be noted that Remuneration has a specific meaning in terms of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and includes all payments to the Employee.
Employment Start Date(DD-MMM-YYYY)ONLY* – This is Required and refers to the date from which the Employee commenced his/her Employment with the Employer in the Format 01-Feb-2003.
Employment End Date(DD-MMM-YYYY)ONLY – This is not Required and only applies of an Employee’s services were terminated during the period of the Lockdown, such as an Employee who was serving notice until the 7th of April 2020 in the Format 07-Apr-2020.
Sector Minimum wage per month* – This is Required and refers to Gazetted Minimum Wages per Sector, for most Employers this will be 3500.
Remuneration Received During Shutdown Period* – This is Required and refers to any payment which the Employee did receive during the Lockdown, either the reduced working hours, leave pay, sick leave etc.
Bank Name* – This is Required and refers to the name f the Bank in which the Employee’s remuneration is ordinarily paid.
Branch Code* – This is Required and refers to the Employee’s Bank Account Branch Code.
Account Type* – This is Required and must be only the single digit of 1 – For Current Account, 2 – For Savings Account, or 3 – For Transmission Account and this relates to each Employee’s personal Bank Account.
Account Number* – This is Required and refers to the Individual Bank Account of each Employee.
Preferred Payment Medium* – This is Required and must be only the single digit of 1 – For the UIF to Pay directly to the Employee’s Bank account, 2 – For the UIF to Pay Funds to the Employer for distribution to the Employee’s Bank Account, or 3 – For Payment to a Bargaining Council for distribution to the Employees’.

How do I create the CSV File for Submission?

The instructions for creating the CSV file from the Excel Template (1 Copy of National_Disaster_Payment-Excel_Template.xlsx) are included in the Guidelines (2- Guidelines-To_Convert_Excel_TO_CSV_V2.docx) and explain the process of converting the proprietary Excel Format to the more universal CSV format for uploading by the DEL’s automated systems. If you have correctly completed the conversion, the file should resemble the provided sample (9- 00000034_06APR2020_1_SAMPE.txt), renamed to reflect your own details.

A simpler method will mean importing the file into Google Sheets for those with Gmail or Google Apps and downloading it as a CSV. Then opening the file in Notepad and Replacing all commas (,) with pipes (|) (Edit > Replace > Replace All).

Which documents do I need to submit?

The documents you will need to submit along with the signed MOA are:

The Signed MOA (If you have more than ten (10) Employees)
The Correct CSV File with Employee Details
Letter of Authority from the Company appointing the person who is submitting the claim on behalf of the Company.
Acceptance of the terms and conditions contained in the MOA.
Proof of Employee Remuneration for the previous three (3) months or, where an Employee’s remuneration fluctuates from month-to-month, six (6) months. This can be in the form of a Payroll Report or Bank Statements.
Confirmation of the Employer’s Bank Account in the form of a certified statement or letter from the Bank.

What happens if the closure or lay-off extends beyond the Locdkown?

The UIF TERS benefits are made available for a period of three (3) months, Apri, May and June 2020 and the Employer should submit a claim for each individual month.

For Second and further payments (May and June 2020), the following forms should be submitted for each claim:

The relevant template (Excel Sheet to CSV) should be updated.
The Period of further closure or reduced hours must be specified (Up to a maximum of one (1) month at a time).
Details of Employees no longer in employment if applicable.
Bank Statement confirming previous payments of TERS benefits.

National Lockdown – What Now? – 9th Update

Comments

One response to “National Lockdown – What Now? – 9th Update”

Leave a Reply Cancel reply