SowetanLive reports that biscuit manufacturer Unibisco is the first company to be exposed as having allegedly failed to disburse money claimed from the Unemployment Insurance Fund’s Covid-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) to its employees.  

Labour minister Thulas Nxesi named and shamed the company after hundreds of workers last week were up in arms after they were not paid.  “We have companies that are misrepresenting us before their workers and the public.  For instance, we were accused by a company in the Eastern Cape, Unibisco, when their workers demanded their money that we have not paid them.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Our records indicate that this company was paid a total of R539,595 on April 24 to pass on to their workers," said Nxesi.  He described employers who were withholding the Ters payments "as callous and insensitive to the needs of workers, especially when many people are facing financial distress due to the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown".  He also reported that the UIF “has been inundated with calls from workers complaining that employers have not paid them their benefits despite having received funds from the UIF.”  However, according to one company, the money received from the UIF was inadequate:  “When the UIF money came back it didn't come back complete, not for everyone."

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mpho Sibanyoni at SowetanLive
• Lees ook, Werkgewers gewaarsku wat WVF-voordele weerhou, by Maroela Media

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