Concerted efforts made to pay the right UIF client, at the right time, the first time
In keeping with this tagline, the Department of Labour’s Unemployment Insurance Fund took a decision to convert Labour Centres into fully-fledged UI Processing Offices. Department of Labour’s Processing Offices are those centres where end-to-end services of the department are offered.
To give effect to this concept, the UIF committed to the establishment of Assessor and Employer Services posts in Labour Centres nationally. In the Free State, the department resolved to convert nine of its 11 Labour Centres into processing offices. To that effect, Zastron and Petrusburg Labour Centres will not be converted. This is due to the volume of applications received in these two centres which is not as high as in other Labour Centres in the province.
Assessors are officials of the department responsible for approving or rejecting UI applications. Employer Services officials, on the other hand, are officials responsible for confirming the employment history of the clients, capturing declaration forms (UI19s) and registration of employers.
“The Free State province’s performance has consistently been on the rise, and this new project will immensely contribute to this commendable performance. This roll out of all UI services to Labour Centres will inevitably require the physical movement of warm bodies from one area to another,” said Mr Teboho Maruping – Commissioner for the Unemployment Insurance Fund.
To counteract the envisaged resistance from officials to move from either their places of residence or offices they are comfortable working from, we pro-actively introduced the new and temporary concept called “a visual Labour Centre”. Through this concept, officials assigned to a particular Labour Centre outside their current workstations can still work from where they are presently based through this new visual Labour Centre,” concluded Commissioner Maruping.
The UIF has been established to cushion workers against the loss of income. By doing so it alleviates the harmful economic and social effects of unemployment.
Enquiries:
Josial Ramokoena
Provincial Communications Officer (PCO): Free State
Cell: 083 292 4018
E-mail: josial.ramokoena@labour.gov.za
