Originally established by the Unemployment Insurance Act No. 30 of 1996 (as amended in 2001 and 2002) the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) is a social initiative by the South African government aimed at providing financial relief to individuals who have lost their jobs or are currently unable to work due to circumstances such as maternity leave, illness or adoption procedures. Managed under the auspices of the Department of Employment and Labour, the UIF requires employers to contribute 2% of their worker’s gross monthly salary (1% of which is contributed by the employee and 1% contributed by the employers).
These payments are pooled together in one fund from which disbursements are now made to former contributors who find themselves out of a job. UIF is available to all South African employers and employees. Properly documented foreigners working in the country can also contribute to and make claims from the benefit if need be. Some categories of workers are excluded from the UIF and they include people who work less than 24 hours a month. Political office holders from the national to local level and people who enter the country for the purpose of carrying out a contract of service or apprenticeship, etc are also not eligible for UIF. The UIF has indeed made and continues to make a difference in the lives of millions of South Africans. Read to discover ways in which you can contact them.
How Do I Contact UIF Offices?
You can contact UIF offices through various means, including a dedicated call center and their official email address. You can also pay them a visit if your issue is not one that can be resolved online or in a situation where you have previously tried their communication channels but got no response.
Through Their Call Centre – 0800030007
One of the ways to get in touch with UIF is through their call center with the telephone number – 0800030007. Therefore, if you are a recently unemployed person who wants to find out whether you can make a claim or perhaps you have already applied and not received any payment yet, then you can readily call them via this channel. If you also want to know your payment status, then this is the channel for you. The UIF call center operates from 7:30 am to 4 pm daily from Monday to Friday. It is therefore not available 24/7 and as such, you should make your inquiries at the earliest time possible.
As is common knowledge, getting through to any organization’s call center can take some time and this is the same thing with the UIF call center. A November 2020 parliamentary investigation discovered that there was a massive backlog at the UIF call center and they lacked the capacity to deal with emails, online applications, and calls from the public. The investigation uncovered that they were only eight call center agents attending to emails leading to a backlog of 440,000 emails. They also uncovered the fact that the UIF gets about 30,000 calls per day but can only attend to 3,000. They, therefore, called on the supervisory Department of Labor to improve the UIF’s ICT capacity.
Through Email – [email protected] and [email protected]
Another way you can readily get in touch with UIF is through their email addresses. In a situation whereby your inquiry is not so urgent, you can always shoot them off a mail. Such inquiries could relate to matters such as how to sign a return form electronically, how to access your returns and payment history, how to upload your internet banking account details to the platform, and the stage of one’s claim, etc. Of course, you can shoot off an email at any point of the day meaning that this channel of communication with the UIF can be said to be available 24/7. It will however take time though before you get a response.
Please use the link below to check the list of entities that have already received the COVID-19 TERS Benefit.#StayHome  #Workingforyouhttps://t.co/144EwL8Px6 pic.twitter.com/VZNliPYHfZ
— UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE FUND (UIF) (@UIFBenefits) April 29, 2020
Through Their Postal Address – the UIF, Pretoria 0052
Even though it is no longer fashionable, the postal service is still very much functional and is one of the ways through which users can contact the UIF. One will however need to factor in the fact that it will take time to have one’s post delivered and to get a response back if one decides to resort to this channel of communication.
Through Their Fax Address – 086 713 3000
Another old-fashioned method through which one can get in touch with the UIF is through their fax address – 086 713 3000. Therefore, if you still have a fax machine hanging around in your place of work, then you can use it and contact the UIF for any inquiries you may have.
Taking A Trip To Their Office
If you believe that the issues you have with the UIF are complicated and better addressed in person, then nothing stops you from taking a physical trip to their office. The UIF office is located at the UIF building, No. 230 Lillian Ngoyi Street, Absa Towers, Pretoria Central, Pretoria. If you live outside Pretoria, then you can also visit the government’s numerous labor centers scattered all over the country as an alternative.
Our head office in Pretoria has been closed due to water leaks, power outage & Covid-19 infections. Access to the building is limited and this has an impact on Call Centre operations.
Payment of ALL benefits is continuing & we apologise for any inconvenience caused. pic.twitter.com/P2joII7mbq
— UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE FUND (UIF) (@UIFBenefits) October 8, 2020
What is the Fastest Way to Sort out UIF Complaints?
The fastest way of sorting out complaints one may have about the UIF is through their call center. Even if they cannot rectify your issue via the phone, they would definitely advise you on the best way to follow in getting it resolved. The only demerit about the call center is that you may get a busy signal and have to wait for minutes before being attended to. The call center may also experience technical glitches which may render them offline for hours. However, barring any network issues or technical glitches, you can be sure that the fastest way of sorting out your UIF complaints is through their call center.
Dear clients, our Call Centre number is fully operational again. You may reach us on 08000 3000 7. We apologise for the inconvenience caused by the recent technical glitch. pic.twitter.com/Xwnsmz4ZIm
— UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE FUND (UIF) (@UIFBenefits) July 27, 2021
Can I Contact the Department of Labour For UIF Issues?
The UIF is an agency of the South African government and as is the norm, every agency has a department under which they operate. For the Unemployment Insurance Fund, they operate under the Department of Employment and Labour. The department’s website caters to matters such as UIF online services (Ufiling), UIF e-compliance certificate, and COVID 19 TERS online applications.
They also have an email address dedicated to UIF issues, [email protected]. People can also visit their local labor centers as an alternative to UIF office in Pretoria. One can therefore contact the Department of Labour if they have any issue with UIF.
