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UIF for employers
The Unemployment Insurance Fund pays your employee if they lose their job, go on maternity leave or fall ill. Here is everything you do as the employer, step by step.
1. Does this employee need UIF?
Yes, if they work 24 hours or more a month for you. That includes domestic workers, gardeners and carers, and part-time staff: someone working one 8 hour day a week works about 35 hours a month, so they are covered. Someone working one 4 hour shift a week (about 17 hours a month) is not. Independent contractors are not employees for UIF.
Learners and foreign nationals on contract: official sources disagree. Check with the UIF on 0800 030 007.
2. Am I already registered?
If you have never registered as an employer, you are not. Since 1 February 2020 every new employer must register with the UIF, even one who pays through SARS.
3. How do I register?
- Go to uFiling and register as a user. It is free.
- Households: register as a domestic employer with your own South African ID number.
- Add your employee using their ID number. uFiling fills in their name and date of birth. Add their start date, pay and at least one beneficiary.
- Your UI reference number is emailed to you. Keep it.
4. What do I need?
- Your ID number, physical and postal address, email address and mobile number.
- Your employee's ID number, start date, hours and monthly pay.
- A business also needs its company registration details. Sole owners registering a business email their documents to the UIF.
5. How much do I pay, and how much do I deduct?
1% from your employee and 1% from you, of their monthly pay. Only the first R17 712 a month counts, so the most is R177.12 each. Overtime and bonuses count; commission does not. You may not deduct more than their 1% or charge them a fee.
Work out the exact amounts for your employee.
6. When is it due?
Declare and pay by the 7th of the following month. If the 7th is a weekend or public holiday, pay by the last business day before it. Households may also pay a whole year in advance, but still deduct only 1% from each pay. Late payment costs a 10% penalty plus interest.
7. Where do I pay?
| You are | Declare | Pay |
|---|---|---|
| Not registered with SARS (most households and very small businesses) | uFiling, monthly | uFiling, by instructed debit or EFT |
| Registered for PAYE or the Skills Development Levy | uFiling, monthly | SARS, on the EMP201, with PAYE |
8. When someone leaves
Update their declaration on uFiling with their last day and the reason, and give them a certificate of service. They need both to claim.
9. What can PayCalc do for you?
PayCalc works out the exact UIF to deduct and pay for each employee, and shows it on the payslip. There is no public system for outside services to file UIF for you, so the declaration itself is done on uFiling. uFiling does accept a bulk upload file for several employees, which PayCalc plans to prepare for you.
Sources: SARS, UIF, uFiling and the Department of Employment and Labour UIF frequently asked questions, checked October 2026. General information, not legal advice.