The COVID-19 lockdown has had a devastating impact on the South African economy which has been felt by every industry in the labour market. One of the industries most impacted is domestic workers. Employers have been urged by the government to pay their employees’ full salary during lockdown, however many households find themselves in a financial position where they cannot afford to pay a domestic worker’s salary during lockdown. This has resulted in many domestic workers being placed on a temporary lay-off period during which they will receive no payment from the employer. Many of these domestic workers have been left destitute as they either cannot receive benefits form the COVID-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (Hereafter “TERS”) because they are not registered for UIF or their employer fails to apply for TERS on their behalf.
The Unemployment Insurance Fund Act No 63 of 2001 (hereafter the “UIF Act”), places an obligation on an employer to register an employee for UIF and contribute towards UIF if the employee works 24 hours or more per month. An employer is accordingly obliged to register a domestic worker who meets these criteria for UIF. Despite this obligation, Times Live, on 13 June 2019, reported that merely one-third of the domestic workers in South Africa are registered for UIF. The UIF Act stipulates that failure to comply with the provisions of the Act, which includes the failure to register an employee for UIF, could result in a penalty or imprisonment. Employers who have not yet done so are urged to register their domestic workers with UIF as a matter of urgency.
As per the Amended Directive published by the Minister of Employment and Labour on 4 May 2020, an employer must apply for TERS benefits on behalf of its employees if their operations close as a result of the lockdown. The employer of a domestic worker is accordingly under an obligation to apply for TERS on behalf of the domestic worker for the period during which the domestic worker cannot work because of the lockdown. As per the above, this cannot be done if an employee is not registered for UIF. It is at this stage unknown what the consequences will be for an employer’s failure to apply for TERS on behalf of its employees. Employers are accordingly advised to apply for TERS online at https://uifecc.labour.gov.za/covid19/covid19Registration
In accordance with Government’s Risk-Adjusted Strategy, except in the case of live-in domestic workers or those supporting level 4 employees, domestic workers are only scheduled to return to work in phase 2. These employees will accordingly be without income for a prolonged period should they not receive payment from their employer or TERS.
Sources:
Unemployment Insurance Fund Act 63 of 2001
AMENDED COVID-19 EMPLOYEE/EMPLOYER RELIEF SCHEMES (C19 TERS), 2020 PUBLISHED 16 APRIL 2020
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carla Theron graduated with an LLB from the University of Stellenbosch in 2015 and with an LLM from the University of Stellenbosch in 2019. She is a Legal Advisor at SEESA Labour, Cape Town.