UIF exit pack
When someone stops working for you, their UIF claim depends almost entirely on paperwork only you can produce. The termination declaration, the service certificate, the earnings history. Get it wrong and their claim sits unpaid for months, they keep phoning you, and the Fund keeps pointing back at your file. We prepare the whole exit set for one departing employee.
Independent paperwork service. ProperSA is an independent private company, not the Department of Employment and Labour. You can complete these forms yourself at no charge on uFiling. Our R390 pays for us to prepare them correctly, submit the declaration and give your former employee a clean set of documents to claim with.
Why this matters more than it looks
A UIF claim is built on the employer’s record, not the employee’s word. The Fund checks whether you declared the person, what you said they earned, and why the job ended. If the declaration is missing, late, or says “resigned” when they were retrenched, the claim is refused or frozen and the only person who can unfreeze it is you. Most small employers do not know the form exists until an angry former employee calls them about it eight weeks later.
What you get for R390
- UI-19 termination declarationCompleted with the correct reason code for how the employment ended and submitted to the Fund. This is the document the whole claim turns on.
- Service certificateThe written confirmation of employment dates and position that a labour centre asks for, on your letterhead and ready to sign.
- Certificate of earningsThe remuneration record the Fund uses to work out what your former employee is paid, drawn from the last six months of pay.
- Final payslip checkWe look at the last payslip for the two things that commonly contradict the declaration: the UIF deduction and the termination date.
- A one page note for the person leavingWhere to claim, what to take, and the deadline. It ends the phone calls, and it costs you nothing to hand over.
How it works
- 1Order and tell us who leftTheir name, identity number, start and end dates, what they earned and why the job ended. A few minutes in your portal.
- 2We prepare and submitWe complete the UI-19 and submit it, and draft the service certificate and earnings certificate for your signature.
- 3You hand over a clean setEverything lands in your portal. Give your former employee their copies and the claim has nothing left to stall on.
Not sure this is the right one for you? Ask us first and you get a written answer within one business day.
The reason code is the part people get wrong
The declaration asks why the employment ended, and the answer decides whether your former employee can claim at all. Dismissal, retrenchment and the end of a fixed term contract all qualify. A resignation does not, unless the CCMA later finds it was a constructive dismissal.
This is where employers get themselves into trouble, in both directions. Recording a retrenchment as a resignation, usually by accident, cuts off someone’s only income and is the sort of thing that comes back as a dispute. Recording a resignation as a dismissal to be kind is a false declaration to the Fund. We complete it as what actually happened, and if the two of you disagree about that, we will tell you before anything is submitted.
What we do not do
We do not lodge your former employee’s claim, and nobody honestly can. Since benefit claims moved to UIF Online, the claimant registers in their own name with their own identity number, cellphone and email, the money is paid into a bank account in their own name, and they personally confirm every four weeks that they are still unemployed. Anyone offering to do that part for a fee is either taking their login details or taking their money.
What we do is the employer half, which is the half that actually goes wrong. Your former employee claims free, in their own name, and our step by step claim guide walks them through it at no charge.
Frequently asked questions
What is a UI-19 form?
It is the declaration an employer makes to the Unemployment Insurance Fund about who works for them, what those people earn, and when someone joins or leaves. A UI-19 is submitted monthly while people are employed, and again when an employee leaves, recording the termination date and the reason. The termination version is the one a claim depends on.
Does the employer or the employee submit the UI-19?
The employer. It is your duty under the Unemployment Insurance Act, and your employee cannot file it for you. This is the single most common reason a UIF claim gets stuck: the person applies, the Fund looks for the employer’s declaration, and there is nothing there.
What happens if I never submitted UIF declarations for this person?
Their claim will stall, because as far as the Fund is concerned they were never employed by you. Contributions are still owed from the date the employment started, with interest and penalties, and deducting UIF from someone’s pay without paying it over is an offence. Our stalled claim rescue is built for exactly that situation.
Can my former employee claim UIF if they resigned?
Generally no. Unemployment benefits are for people who were dismissed, retrenched, or whose fixed term contract ended. The exception is a constructive dismissal, where the CCMA finds the person had no reasonable alternative but to resign. Illness, maternity and parental benefits are separate and are not affected by how the job ended.
How long does my former employee have to claim?
Twelve months from their last working day. Some official pages still say six months, which is out of date. Payment only runs from the date they apply rather than the date they stopped working, so there is no advantage in waiting.
Do I have to pay for this? Can I not just do it myself?
You can do all of it yourself at no charge on uFiling, and the Department charges nothing for any of these forms. The R390 buys the forms being filled in correctly the first time and someone else carrying the follow-up.
While you are here
Employer declaration duties are set by the Unemployment Insurance Act 63 of 2001 and the Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act 4 of 2002. Employee benefit claims are made by the claimant personally through the Department of Employment and Labour, currently on UIF Online, and this service does not include lodging a benefit claim on anyone’s behalf. Form names and portals change; confirm the current requirement with the Department before relying on it. This is administrative assistance, not legal or tax advice.