UIF parental benefits in effect soon

UIF parental benefits in effect soon

The section in the Labour Laws Amendment Act on parental benefits comes into effect soon.

Proclamation 56, published in Government Gazette 42805, determines that section 8 (a)(cA), 11, 15 and 16 of the act come into force on 1 November 2019.

The act, assented to in November 2018, seeks to introduce amendments to the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the Unemployment Insurance Act. The act aims to:

amend the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997, so as to insert new definitions; correct an obsolete reference to an Act;

provide for parental, adoption and commissioning parental leave to employees; provide that a collective agreement may not reduce an employee’s entitlement to parental, adoption or commissioning parental leave;

amend the Unemployment Insurance Act, 2001, so as to provide for the right to claim parental and commissioning parental benefits from the Unemployment Insurance Fund;

provide for the application for, and the payment of, parental and commissioning parental benefits from the Unemployment Insurance Fund; correct an obsolete reference to an Act;

provide that the number of contributors to whom parental and commissioning parental benefits were paid and the amount of such payments be included in the written report from the Director-General to the Minister; and

provide for matters connected therewith.

UIF contributors will now be able to claim for parental benefits.

According to an earlier employment and labour department statement, the “payment of parental benefits by UIF will be in line with the 10 leave days granted and will be subject to credit days accumulated and 66% flat rate applicable”.

Provided By Sabinet