Love thy labour: Changes to get the best back from contributions

From February the unemployment legislation has been extended and it is beneficial to know and understand the contents of these changes so that when individuals claim from the unemployment fund they can enhance their payouts in terms of the applicable legislation.

The act only applies to employees who are employed for more than 24 hours a month.

A contributing employee in any sector who has his or her income reduced due to reduced working time, despite still being employed, is entitled to benefits if the contributor’s total income falls below the benefit level that the contributor would have received if he or she had become wholly unemployed.

This means that even if you get a reduction in salary, you can try to claim from the fund. It does not mean that you have to have been dismissed or retrenched. A contributing employee could receive up to 365 days of benefit in a four-year period immediately preceding the day after the date of ending the period of employment.

If the contributor has credits, unemployment benefits must be paid to the unemployed contributor, regardless of whether the contributor

has received benefits within that four-year

cycle. The payment of maternity benefits may not affect the payment of unemployment benefits; however, if the application for benefits is made within the four-year cycle of a previous claim, the fund must subtract the number of days in respect of which benefits have already been paid in that cycle.

All employees must remember that the application must be made within 12 months of the termination of the contract of employment (it used to be a six-month period).

A contributor who has a miscarriage during the third trimester or gives birth to a stillborn child is entitled to full maternity benefits of 17 to 32 weeks. A claimant must within 18 months of the death of a contributor, claim. This has changed from the six -month period which gives people a sufficient amount of time in which to lodge the claim.

When processing an application for benefits neither the fund nor the agency or person purporting to act on behalf of the applicant may charge a fee against the applicant.

The minister will in due course issue regulations on a special dispensation applicable to domestic employers and small businesses or enterprises regarding the submission of information.

* Michael Bagraim is a labour lawyer. This column is kindly sponsored by O’Brien Recruitment.

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media

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