Slow paying Unemployment Insurance Fund

[Dave A]

Not a happy picture if you're going to be joining the UIF queue.

The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) blames incomplete applications and overworked staff for lengthy delays in paying out benefits, but labour lawyer Michael Bagraim blames the management for the shambles.

According to the UIF's 2009 annual report, 62 percent of the 627 244 claims paid out in the 2008/09 financial year were done so within the stipulated five weeks. This is against the UIF's own target for the year that 90 percent of claims be paid out in five weeks.

In the report, the fund said the undershoot was due to incomplete information supplied by beneficiaries and the fact that almost 100 000 more claims were processed than the year before without a staff increase.

Bagraim said yesterday that in one out of three claims submitted to the UIF, the application was lost. Applicants could wait up to six months to be paid out and payment was often only secured through "sheer persistence", Bagraim said.
full story from Business Report here

Let's hope it doesn't get like the Road Accident Fund where you need to sue to get paid what you're due.

[tec0]

I happened to have a firsthand experience with the unemployment fund and tell you one thing, I saw what was happening and I just walked away. The UIF system is a joke.