The UI-19 form: declaring employees to the UIF, and what to give someone who leaves

What is the UI-19?

The UI-19 is the "Declaration of information of commercial employees and workers employed in a private household". It goes to the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), part of the Department of Employment and Labour, not to SARS. It's usually submitted online through uFiling.

Its two jobs

When	What you do
Every month	Declare everyone employed in the month, with their earnings and contributions, including new starters and anyone who left. Due by the 7th of the following month.
When someone leaves	Give the employee a completed UI-19 showing the reason they left, together with a UI-2.7 (their pay while employed). They need both to claim.

When employment ends you also owe the employee a certificate of service under section 42 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.

Contributions

UIF is 2% of pay: 1% deducted from the employee and 1% from you, the employer, on pay up to the UIF ceiling of R 17 712 a month. Employers registered with SARS pay it with the monthly EMP201; the UI-19 declares the detail behind it to the UIF. Employees who work 24 hours or more a month are covered.

The reason for leaving

Each leaver is declared with an official reason. The reason matters: it decides which benefits the person can claim, so it must be the true one. The common ones are:

Code	Reason
2	Deceased
3	Retired
4	Dismissed
5	Contract expired
6	Resigned
8	Insolvency or liquidation
9	Maternity or adoption
10	Illness or medically boarded
11	Retrenched or staff reduction
14	Business closed

One reason is different: constructive dismissal can only be decided by the CCMA, a bargaining council or the Labour Court, so an employer shouldn't declare it.

How a former employee claims

Unemployment claims can be lodged within 12 months of the last working day, online through uFiling or at a labour centre. The employee usually needs their ID, the UI-19 and UI-2.7 from you, a bank confirmation (UI-2.8), and the application form, and must register as a work-seeker. Your part is to give them complete, correct forms promptly: a missing UI-19 is the most common reason a claim stalls.

Common mistakes

• Skipping the monthly declaration, so the UIF's records don't show the person's employment.
• Declaring the wrong reason for leaving, for example "resigned" for a retrenchment.
• Leaving the leaver off the month's declaration.
• Handing over the UI-19 late, which delays the former employee's claim.

How NUMBAAS helps

NUMBAAS payroll prepares each month's UI-19 declaration from the payroll you've run, with the due date, and records every leaver with an official reason (it won't accept constructive dismissal). For each leaver it prepares final pay, the certificate of service and the UI-19. You submit through uFiling.

For the UIF's own guidance, see labour.gov.za.