Guide to Claim UIF Maternity & All FAQs Answered

UIF maternity benefits have helped millions of expecting South African mothers by easing their worries. It aims to facilitate pregnant women in the best way it can.

I can personally vouch for the validity of this fund as my wife signed up for this. It is hands down the best bursaries the South African government provides.

However, that is not about it. In fact, there is a lot more to this fund that can not be discussed here. So, in the following article, I will be giving an in-depth knowledge of what kind of benefits you can expect from this bursary and how you can avail this fund.

Furthermore, there are also a few technicalities that you should be mindful of when applying for this fund. So, without further ado let’s dig deeper into the details.

UIF Maternity Benefits

When talking about the UIF maternity benefits, the list can go on and on. There are so many ways this fund could benefit you in your tough times.

As an expecting woman, you can expect endless support from this fund and need not worry about the hardships and sufferings that come in this critical period of time. So, the benefits are included as follows:

1. Maternity Leave

Being a pregnant woman, you don’t have to worry about earning yourself a living. If you are a working lady, you could apply for paid leave for a maximum of twenty-six weeks. It means that you won’t have to go to work or provide any kind of virtual assistance to your employers while still getting your paycheck on time.

The amount you receive from the UIF maternity might be a little reduced as per the regulations but rest assured, it will be sufficient to support you and the growing life within you.

Now, moving on to planning the duration of your paid maternity leave. You could apply for it any time during your pregnancy however, the most ideal period would be at least four weeks prior to your due date. This will give you ample time to rest after you have given birth to your child.

2. Adoption Benefits

UIF also provides you the benefit of arranging a foster family for your newborn child if you want to give it up for adoption. They could also look up a family for the adoption of your child permanently.

It means that if you are a young unwed mother, you could easily find a good stable family for your child for nourishment and protection.

However, to avail of this benefit you would have to apply for it in the early stages of your pregnancy to give them enough time to arrange a good family.

3. Maternity Benefits Extension

This is an upgraded version of maternity leave. It is specifically designed to target mothers who suffer a miscarriage or stillbirth. If you are one of those mothers, you could get UIF benefits for a maximum of six weeks.

When Should I Apply For Maternity UIF?

If you are a pregnant South African woman looking to apply for UIF maternity, I would recommend that you apply as soon as you take a paid leave from your work. This would ensure that you have ample financial support with your job assistance and UIF benefit combined.

However, you need to be mindful of one little technicality in this case. You must have made certain amounts of payments in the past towards the UIF. Furthermore, you must also be a working woman with written proof that you have taken maternity leave from your job or stopped working altogether. They may require you to furnish your medical certificate as well.

Apart from that, make sure that you provide all the required details and documentation to fasten up the process. In case of any deficiency, they will ask you to provide the deficient material by a certain due date. This will needlessly slow down your application process and delay your payments.

How to Apply for UIF Maternity?

here are the steps you would take to apply for Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) maternity benefits in South Africa.

1. Inform your employer: Discuss your intention to take maternity leave with your employer. You’ll need some documentation from them for your claim.
2. Documents needed: Here’s a list of documents you may need for your claim. This list may vary, so check the UIF’s website or other reliable source for the most current information.
   • UI-2.8 for banking details.
   • UI-2.7
   • UI-2.3 (application form)
   • UI-4 (follow-up form)
   • A copy of your ID or passport.
   • A medical certificate from a doctor or birth certificate of the baby.
   • UI-19 and UI-2.7 from your employer showing that you are no longer working.
   • You can get all these UIF forms here.
3. Submit your claim: You can then submit your claim. This could traditionally be done at a labour center in person. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an online system was put in place to submit these claims online via the uFiling website.
4. Follow-up: After submission, you should follow up on your claim. You might be asked to fill in a UI-4 form as part of the follow-up.

How Is Maternity UIF Calculated?

The formula for the calculation of the UIF maternity leave is pretty easy. You will be receiving about sixty-six percent of the last four months of your salary. This salary also includes other benefits and allowances you have been receiving.

To put it simply, what they will do is take the last four months of your salary up to the last day of your working day and then multiply the resulting amount by 0.66. This will be the amount you will receive every month for your entire maternity leave.

However, you must also keep in mind that the leave you take also impacts the amount of your benefits.

How Long Does Maternity UIF Take To Pay Out?

Maternity UIF takes about eight weeks to make your first payment after the first application. This is the minimum and the ideal time period however, there could be a myriad of reasons why this duration might get prolonged.

It could be because your application had deficiencies, or the system took time to verify your details and claims for the funds.

UIF Maternity Second Payment

Once you have properly applied for the UIF maternity leave and submitted all the appropriate documentation, you will receive timely payments every month. The only delay that you could have to deal with would be the first one. The reasons are pretty obvious as well.

You would have to wait for them to make all the necessary changes in their systems and allot timely payments in your name. The second payment would only be the sequel of the first one. And many more to come in the next months following the first one until your maternity benefits expire.

Final Thoughts

So, this was all from my side. I hope you all found this information extremely helpful. I tried my best to provide you with the most relevant information so that you could get a proper understanding of it all from a single source.

I am sure you are now better equipped to fight for your rights and claim your maternity benefits to support a decent life for yourself and your baby.