Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi has made further changes to the directives governing the Temporary Employee/Employer Relief Scheme (TERS) of the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), following ongoing engagements with business and labour on the scheme at the National Economic Development and Labour Council.

The revised directive, dated April 16, states that an employer is entitled to claim benefits for employees who have taken annual leave during the lockdown period and that the employer may retain these amounts, provided that it credits the employee with leave days proportionate to the value of the benefit.

Business for South Africa (B4SA) has welcomed the amendment, as it means there is no need to reinstate leave and place employees on unpaid leave in order to claim.

The new directive also urges employers to pay employees the equivalent of their TERS benefits in advance in the event that the funds have not been received by the employer on their payment date. The funds can then be retained when payment is received.

Businesses claiming the benefits on behalf of affected employees are also no longer required to create a separate TERS bank account and payments will be made by the UIF into their existing bank accounts.

As outlined in the scheme’s structure, which was approved by Nxesi on April 4, TERS benefits are available to all employees who are, along with their employers, contributors to the UIF and where the employer has closed its operations, or part of its operations, as a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The benefit is determined with reference to a sliding scale, with the minimum salary amount set at R3 500 a month and the maximum at R17 712 a month.

Employees will receive a percentage of their salary of between 38% and 60%, with the precise percentage to be determined in accordance with the UIF calculator.

B4SA said in a statement on April 17 that the basis for calculating employees’ due benefits would soon be published on the UIF website.

Employers are also entitled to supplement these benefits, but employees may not receive the benefit in addition to their full salaries.