UIF calculator

How UIF works out your benefits

The Unemployment Insurance Act sets out each step. The calculator follows the same steps.

How UIF works out benefits and contributions

Step	Rule
Daily pay	Monthly pay times 12, divided by 365, counting pay up to R17 712 a month
Your rate	60% for the lowest pay, falling to 38% at R17 712 a month
Days 1 to 238	Daily pay times your rate
Day 239 onwards	Daily pay times 20%
Days of benefits	One for every 4 days you worked, up to 365 in the 4 years before your job ended
Maternity	66% of daily pay, for up to 121 days
Contributions	1% from you and 1% from your employer, on pay up to R17 712 a month

An example

Someone who earned the same monthly pay for four years before losing their job:

Worked example: unemployment benefits for R10 000 a month and 4 years of work

Step	Amount
Monthly pay	R10 000
Daily pay	R328.77
Rate	41.97%
Days 1 to 238	R137.98 a day, R32 839.24
Days 239 to 365	R65.75 a day, R8 350.25
In all	R41 189.49

The Department of Employment and Labour gave the same example, with the same figures, in a written reply to Parliament.

How the calculator works

• Daily pay. Your monthly pay times 12, divided by 365. Pay above R17 712 a month isn’t counted.
• Your rate. The Act’s Schedule 2 sets a sliding scale: people who earned less get a bigger share of their pay. The calculator works out the scale for the R17 712 ceiling, which gives the same rates as the Department’s own examples.
• Days of benefits. You earn one day for every 4 days you worked and contributed, up to 365 days in the 4 years before your job ended. The calculator counts a year as 365 days.
• Two stretches. The first 238 days are paid at your rate, and the rest at 20% of your daily pay.
• Maternity. UIF pays 66% of your daily pay for up to 121 days. If your employer pays you during maternity leave, UIF and your employer together can’t pay more than your normal pay. Maternity benefits don’t use up your unemployment days.
• Contributions. Your employer takes 1% of your pay and adds 1% of its own, on pay up to R17 712 a month.

What this tool can’t do

• It gives an estimate. UIF works out the final amount from your employer’s declarations, and uses your average pay if it changed over the last six months.
• It doesn’t know about days UIF already paid you in the same 4 years: UIF takes those off.
• It doesn’t check whether you qualify. For example, UIF doesn’t pay unemployment benefits if you resigned, unless you were constructively dismissed, and it only pays when you are unemployed for more than 14 days. See how to claim UIF for who qualifies and the deadlines.
• It doesn’t cover illness, adoption, parental or dependants’ benefits.
• It takes monthly pay. If you are paid weekly, multiply your weekly pay by 52 and divide by 12.

Next steps

Claim UIF online as soon as you can, and register as a work seeker on ESSA. If you have no income at all while you wait, see whether you qualify for the SRD grant.