South Africa Update: COVID-19 TERS Benefits Extension

The Department of Employment and Labour has issued another Directive providing for the extension of COVID-19 TERS benefits for certain categories of sectors and employees that are unable to operate, fully or partially, due to the various lockdown measures.

Despite the withdrawal of the initial COVID-19 TERS Directive in September 2020, the Department of Employment and Labour has issued another Directive providing for the extension of COVID-19 TERS benefits for certain categories of sectors and employees that are unable to operate, fully or partially, due to the various lockdown measures. The new Directive was issued and gazetted by the Department of Labour and Employment on 26 February 2021 and has a retrospective application, from 15 October 2020 until 15 March 2021.

In terms of the Directive, these newly revived COVID-19 TERS benefits will only be available to employees who are contributors to the Unemployment Insurance Fund. 

The categories of employees who qualify for these revived benefits are those whose employers:

• are not permitted to commence operations, either partially or fully, due to compliance with Regulations issued in December 2020 and thereafter in terms of Disaster Management Act of 2002 (“the Regulations”), and who operate in a specified sector, which sectors are listed in the Directive but include inter alia restaurants, nightclubs and gyms, and the other industries in their value chain
• are unable to make alternative arrangements for vulnerable employees to work from home or take other measures, irrespective of whether the employer operates in a specified sector
• are unable to utilise their services, either fully or partially, due to operational requirements caused by compliance with the Regulations, in particular, the need to limit the number of employees at the workplace
• are required to ensure that they remain in isolation/or quarantine following a high-risk contact, irrespective of whether employer operate in a specified sector

The benefit that the employee will receive will be calculated in terms of section 13 of the Unemployment Insurance Act and the employer is entitled to supplement this amount, provided that is disclosed upfront in the benefit application, and provided the total of both amounts will not exceed 100 percent of the ordinary numeration earned by the employee. Should the benefit together with a supplementary remuneration earned fall below R3 500, the benefit will be increased to ensure that the employee receive R3 500 in total.

Reduced time benefits

Subject to the availability of funds, employees whose employers do not fall into specified sectors, but who are unable to utilise their services, either fully or partially, due to employer’s compliance with Regulations, shall be entitled to a reduced work time benefit in terms of section 12(1B) of the UI Act. This amount will be calculated utilising the Income Replacement Rate and a sliding scale and the total amount shall not exceed 100 percent of the ordinary remuneration earned by employee.

Application of the benefits

On the application for the benefits, the employer must prove that they are unable to make alternative arrangements for vulnerable employees to work from home or take other measures. If the employer has 50 or more employees, a report from a certified occupational health and safety officer which set out full reasons that employees cannot be reasonably accommodated must be provided.

If the employer has less than 50 employees, in the absence of the report form the occupational health and safety officer, an affidavit deposed to by the owner or senior manager setting out the reasons as to why the employees cannot be reasonably accommodated must be provided. For the employees that are in quarantine/or isolation, the employer and the employee must each submit an affidavit attested to by the owner/or senior manager of the employer and by the employee stating that the employee had a high-risk contact.

By Doctor Cithi and Buhle Msweli, Tabacks, South Africa, a Transatlantic Law International Affiliated Firm. 

For further information or for any assistance please contact southafricalabor@transatlanticlaw.com

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