Moneyweb reports that according to the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), it has more than a million outstanding claims on its Covid-19 Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) portal that stand to be closed by the end of December if claimants do not attend to the errors on their applications.
The Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) on Wednesday stated that simple errors in the applications were the main reason outstanding claims had yet to be finalised. The most common errors included incorrect banking details, incorrect income and invalid identity or passport numbers. “We have observed that most Covid-19 Ters payments are unsuccessful due to employers or their representatives failing to follow the application procedures correctly. The application platform provides error messages and guides employers on what they need to do to correct mistakes,” advised acting UIF commissioner Advocate Mzie Yawa. The department believes the reason a lot of outstanding claims, some dating back to March 2020, are not being attended to by claimants is because they are fraudulent. But, red tape may be another reason, with Business Unity SA’s Cas Coovadia saying that employers were largely fatigued by the slow and often confusing claims process. The DEL has resorted to partnering with unions in its attempts to resolve the issues and has formed a project team. “We appreciate efforts by among others Sactwu and Numsa who heeded our plea to talk to their employers, which has helped to have most of their issues resolved,” said Yawa.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Akhona Matshoba at Moneyweb
- Read too, UIF urges finalisation of outstanding Covid-19 Ters applications before December deadline, at Engineering News
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