How to Apply for UIF Maternity Benefits, The Unemployment Insurance Fund, among other things, provides temporary financial assistance in the event of unemployment and illness. These benefits are also available to parents who are adopting a child or who are about to take maternity leave.
Employees in South Africa are entitled to a number of leave days, each with its own set of requirements that must be met.
This includes, to name a few, annual, sick, maternity, and family responsibility leave. Employees who work less than 24 hours per month are not entitled to leave days under the Labour Law. Maternity leave is time off that is given to an expectant mother for up to four months, commencing no later than four weeks of the expected child’s date of birth.
The mother-to-be will be provided with temporary financial assistance during this period as part of their Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) maternity benefit.
How to Apply for UIF Maternity Benefits
According to the Fund, here’s how you can apply for the benefit:
Step 1: Get the following documents ready:
- 13-digit bar-coded ID or passport
- form UI-2.8 for banking details
- form UI-2.7;
- form UI-2.3 (application form)
- medical certificate from a doctor or birth certificate of the baby
- form UI-4 (follow-up form)
Step 2: Go to the nearest labour centre
Pregnant workers are required to go to their nearest labour centre and hand in the documents. Should they be ill, they can organise for someone else to go in their place and staff at the labour centre will assist them with all the processes and give them more information.
Step 3: Follow all the instructions of the staff at the labour centre
Staff at the labour centre may ask pregnant workers to go to the doctor again or to visit the labour centre at certain times. Workers should do what they ask, or they may not be able to claim.​
Individuals may only submit their maternity benefit claim once they have begun maternity leave.
Employees may also apply for the benefit within the first twelve months of their child’s birth. The Fund has also confirmed that mothers who have had a miscarriage or stillbirth are eligible for this benefit as well.
People who have legally adopted a child under the age of two are eligible for UIF benefits as long as they have been contributing to the Fund. How to Apply for UIF Maternity Benefits