[Question] Maternity leave and Pastel Payroll & HR 2014

[Sasha]

Hi There

I posted this question in the Accounting Forum which was obviously the wrong place to do so...sorry!

I'm looking for help with processing an employee who is on maternity leave. I've recently started using Pastel Payroll and HR to process our salaries and this is what I've done:

1. I've changed her status to '09 - Maternity/Adoption leave'
2. I've changed her salary to the amount she will be receiving while on maternity leave - half her salary
3. ...this is where I get stuck! What else should I be doing? Will everything be calculated automatically from this point? I see that a UIF payment is still showing but won't this affect her ability to claim from UIF while she's on maternity leave?

Please help. (thank you!)
Sasha

[Dave A]

Hi Sasha,

I've had a staff member take maternity leave and claim maternity leave benefits from UIF. As part of that process I had to complete a form as the employer stating what I would be paying while the employee was on maternity leave. In my instance it was nil, so a lot simpler really.

This page on How to Claim UIF Maternity Benefits on the DoL website sets out the details. If you want to be proactive, you can download the forms there and save the employee a trip or more.

Ultimately, based on the above I'm inclined to think you should continue to deduct and pay over UIF on the reduced remuneration paid (it is after all remuneration and I don't recall maternity leave pay being an excluded amount for UIF calculation purposes), and it would seem the employee will still be able to claim the maternity leave benefits from UIF - although whether the payments made by the employer might affect the quantum of payment from the Fund, I have no idea.

[Christel]

I remember years ago when I was pregnant, I was paid a small portion of my salary monthy from my employer and the Dept of Labour took that into account when calculating what they would pay me. So yes, she would receive something from them.

[Sasha]

Thank you...I really appreciate your help with this.

My findings were that she did have to pay over UIF based on the salary she was receiving during her maternity leave, so she still stays as an 'active' employee on Pastel.