The Quick Answer
The UI-19 is the employer's declaration to the Unemployment Insurance Fund: who works for you, what they earn, and - when employment ends - when and why it ended. It must be submitted for every new hire, every salary change and every termination, by the 7th of the following month, on paper to a labour centre or electronically via uFiling or your payroll software. Without it, the employee cannot claim UIF benefits.
The one thing to remember
The UI-19 is not a termination form - it is a running declaration. If the fund only ever hears from you when someone leaves, every claim your ex-employees make will stall while the fund reconstructs a history you were required to file monthly.
What the UI-19 Is (and Is Not)
Under the Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act, every employer paying an employee who works more than 24 hours a month must register with the UIF, declare those employees, and pay 2% of remuneration (1% employer + 1% employee) each month. The UI-19 is the declaration half of that duty. It is not proof of payment (that is the contribution return), and it is not the benefit application (the employee files those - UI-2.1 for unemployment, UI-2.3 for maternity - with the UI-19 as supporting proof).
When You Must Submit One
A new employee starts
Declare them in the first monthly declaration after their start date.
Remuneration changes
The declared figure drives future benefits - keep it current, not historic.
Any termination
Resignation, dismissal, retrenchment, contract expiry or death - with the correct reason code and last day worked.
An employee requests it for a claim
Maternity and illness claims need current declarations; issue a copy without delay - refusing is an offence.
Registering as an Employer From Zero
You cannot submit a UI-19 before the business itself is registered with the fund — and the registration path decides where your money goes each month, which is where first-time employers get lost:
1. Register the business with the UIF
Online at uFiling (companies and households), or on the UI-8 form (UI-8D for domestic employers) at a labour centre. You receive the UIF reference number that every future declaration and claim is matched against.
2. Know which channel collects your money
If the business is registered with SARS for PAYE or SDL, UIF contributions are declared and paid to SARS on the monthly EMP201 return — not to the UIF directly. Employers not registered for PAYE (most households, some micro businesses) pay the UIF directly, via uFiling. Paying the wrong channel is a genuine and common mess: the money arrives, the declaration does not.
3. Declarations still go to the UIF either way
The EMP201 moves the money; the UI-19 information (who works for you, what they earn, when they leave) must still reach the fund — through uFiling or your payroll software’s monthly declaration file. SARS and the UIF do not fully reconcile each other’s records; the employer bridges the gap.
4. Then the monthly rhythm
Declare by the 7th of the following month, every month there is a change. Set it up once in payroll software and the rhythm runs itself; do it manually and the first missed month is usually the month someone resigns.
The 24-hour rule decides who must be declared: anyone working more than 24 hours a month for you is a contributor, regardless of what the contract calls them — part-timers, fixed-term staff and domestic workers included. The only genuine exclusions are independent contractors in the true legal sense and employees who work under 24 hours a month.
UIF Contribution Calculator
1% from the employee, 1% from the employer, on remuneration capped at R17,712.00 per month. Enter the gross monthly remuneration:
A monthly declaration, not a once-off termination form: the UIF only knows an employee exists if the UI-19 said so first.
Filling It In, Field by Field
Employer details
UIF reference number, PAYE number if registered, trading name and contact details. The UIF reference is the number claims are matched against - a typo here orphans the declaration.
Employee details
Full names exactly as on the ID, the 13-digit ID number (or passport for foreign nationals), and employment start date.
Remuneration
Gross monthly remuneration subject to UIF - salary plus regular allowances, before deductions. This figure drives both the contribution and the benefit the employee can later claim.
Hours
Average hours worked per month. For variable-hour staff use a representative average - zeros here flag the record for manual review.
Termination date and code
Only on termination: the last day worked and the reason code from the list on the form. The code decides what the employee can claim - get it from the record, not from memory.
Declaration
Signed and dated by the employer or authorised person. Electronic submissions carry the same legal weight as the signed paper form.
The Termination Codes That Decide Claims
The reason code is the field employers treat as an afterthought and employees live with for months. Here is the complete table from the official UI-19 gazetted on 4 November 2019 — all eighteen codes, exactly as the form prints them.
There is no code 1. The list starts at 2, which is why working from memory or from a half-remembered table goes wrong so often. The three most consequential to get right: 11 is retrenchment (not 5 — that is contract expiry), 16 is a voluntary severance package (not 6, resigned), and 7 is constructive dismissal, which only the CCMA, a bargaining council or the Labour Court may determine.
| Code | What it means for the employee |
|---|---|
| 2 — Deceased | Dependants claim death benefits |
| 3 — Retired | No unemployment benefit; retirement is not unemployment |
| 4 — Dismissed | Employee may claim unemployment benefits — being dismissed does not forfeit UIF |
| 5 — Contract expired | Employee may claim |
| 6 — Resigned | No ordinary unemployment benefit (maternity and illness benefits are still claimable) |
| 7 — Constructive dismissal | Only the CCMA, a bargaining council or the Labour Court can determine this — the form says so explicitly. Do not self-declare it |
| 8 — Insolvency / liquidation | Employee may claim |
| 9 — Maternity / adoption | Routes the claim to maternity benefits, not unemployment |
| 10 — Illness / medically boarded | Routes the claim to illness benefits |
| 11 — Retrenched / staff reduction | Employee may claim — and this code cross-checks against your Section 189 paper trail |
| 12 — Transfer to another branch | Not a termination for benefit purposes |
| 13 — Absconded | Employee may claim, but the desertion must be genuine and documented |
| 14 — Business closed | Employee may claim |
| 15 — Death of domestic employer | The household-specific code; employee may claim |
| 16 — Voluntary severance package | Employee may claim. A VSP is not a resignation — coding it 6 wrongly blocks the claim |
| 17 — Reduced work time | Supports a reduced work time benefit claim while employment continues |
| 18 — Commissioning parental | For a commissioning parent in a surrogacy arrangement |
| 19 — Parental leave | The parental leave benefit code |
Retrenching? The UI-19 with code 11 is part of the statutory termination pack alongside the severance calculation - calculate the package here - the section 189 consultation record, and the certificate of service.
Where and How to Submit
uFiling (recommended)
ufiling.labour.gov.za - register once as an employer (households included), then declarations and payments happen in one place with a submission record you can produce later.
Through payroll software
Most SA payroll systems generate and submit the monthly UIF declaration file automatically from the payroll run - the declaration then always matches what was actually paid.
Paper, at a labour centre
Still legal, slowest to reflect. If you must, keep a date-stamped copy - “we never received it” is a real failure mode.
5 Mistakes That Block Claims
Declaring basic salary instead of full remuneration
The benefit is calculated on declared remuneration. Under-declare and the employee’s maternity or unemployment benefit is short - a liability that lands back on the employer.
Wrong or missing termination code
Code 6 (resigned) on what was actually a retrenchment — which is code 11 — blocks the employee’s claim and triggers exactly the kind of dispute the CCMA hears. Coding a voluntary severance package as a resignation instead of 16 does the same.
Submitting only at termination
The UI-19 is also the monthly declaration of new hires and salary changes. If the first time the UIF hears about an employee is the day they leave, the claim stalls for months.
Forgetting domestic and part-time staff
More than 24 hours a month = declarable employee. Households and small businesses skip this and discover it at claim time.
No copy on the employee record
The employee needs the UI-19 to claim; the employer needs proof it was submitted. Keep both, dated, with the rest of the termination pack.
After You Submit: What the Employee's Claim Looks Like
Employers field these questions from ex-employees for months after a termination, so it is worth knowing the other side of the counter. The UI-19 is the employer's proof; the employee then files their own application — UI-2.1 for unemployment, UI-2.3 for maternity, UI-2.7 to confirm remuneration — on uFiling or at a labour centre, with a certified ID and bank confirmation.
How much the benefit is
Unemployment benefits pay on a sliding scale from 38% of capped earnings for higher earners up to 60% for the lowest earners — unlike the flat 66% maternity benefit. Credits accrue at one day of benefit per four days worked, to a maximum of 365 days over the four years before the claim.
How long payment takes
There is no statutory turnaround, and this is the number one complaint the fund receives. A complete pack is typically processed in a few weeks; a missing UI-19, an under-declared salary or an unconfirmed bank account turns weeks into months. Every mistake in the list above shows up here, on someone else’s kitchen table.
Payment continues only on continuation forms
Benefits are paid in instalments against continuation-of-registration submissions. A missed continuation silently stops payment — worth telling a retrenched employee before they discover it.
The claim window
Unemployment claims should be lodged as soon as possible after the termination — the fund allows up to 12 months, but benefits do not accrue while the claimant waits to apply.
If an employer refuses to issue the UI-19, the employee can report it to the Department of Employment and Labour: inspectors can attend the premises, and the UIC Act carries fines and interest for non-compliance. Refusal is not leverage in a dispute — it is a separate offence stacked on top of it.
Never Reconstruct a UI-19 Again
Every field the UI-19 asks for - start date, remuneration history, hours, termination date and reason - is data an HR system already holds. In Synthro the employee record carries all of it from onboarding to exit, the SimplePay integration keeps declared remuneration in sync with what payroll actually paid, and when someone leaves, the termination pack (UI-19 details, certificate of service, final-pay calculation) comes off the record instead of out of a drawer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I download the UI-19 form?
From the Department of Employment and Labour website (labour.gov.za, under UIF forms) or from any labour centre. Only use the official form - banks, payroll providers and the UIF itself reject altered layouts. If you submit declarations electronically through uFiling or your payroll software, the UI-19 information is captured digitally instead of on the paper form.
Must I submit a UI-19 when an employee resigns?
Yes. The UI-19 is required for every termination regardless of reason - resignation, dismissal, retrenchment or end of contract. The reason code matters to the employee: a resignation (code 2) does not qualify for ordinary unemployment benefits, but the declaration must still be made so the employment history is complete.
What is the difference between the UI-19 and the UI-2.7?
The UI-19 is the employer’s declaration of employment details and termination information. The UI-2.7 confirms remuneration received while still in employment and is used for maternity, illness and adoption benefit claims. Claims commonly need both - the UI-19 proves the employment, the UI-2.7 proves the earnings.
What is the deadline for UI-19 submissions?
Declarations must reach the UIF by the 7th of the month following the change - a new hire, a termination or a salary change. Interest and penalties apply to late contribution payments, and an employee cannot claim benefits until the declarations are on the system.
How long does UIF take to pay out?
There is no fixed statutory turnaround. A complete claim — UI-19 on the system, salary correctly declared, bank details confirmed — is typically processed within a few weeks; an incomplete pack takes months, and the missing UI-19 is the most common gap. Payment then continues in instalments against continuation forms, and a missed continuation silently stops it.
What can an employee do if the employer refuses to give them a UI-19?
Report it to the Department of Employment and Labour with proof of the request. Labour inspectors can attend the premises and enforce compliance, and the Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act carries fines and interest for employers who fail to declare. Refusing the form is an offence in itself, separate from any dispute about the termination.
How much does UIF pay for unemployment?
A sliding scale of 38% to 60% of capped earnings — lower earners get the higher percentage. Credits accrue at one day of benefit for every four days worked, up to a maximum of 365 days over the preceding four years. Maternity benefits are different: a flat 66% for up to 121 days, without using up unemployment credits.
Do domestic workers need a UI-19?
Yes. A household employing a domestic worker for more than 24 hours a month is an employer under the UIC Act: it must register (U-Filing handles households), declare the worker on the UI-19, and pay the 2% contribution. Skipping this is the single most common reason domestic workers cannot claim maternity or unemployment benefits.
