Extending coverage of the unemployment insurance-system in South Africa
Date
2010-02
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Juta Law Publishing
Abstract
The scope of the Unemployment Insurance Act (UIA) is narrow as it continues to exclude the
atypically employed (particularly independent contractors, so-called dependent contractors and those
who are self-employed or informally employed), public servants, learners, and certain categories of
migrant workers from its purview. Given the vulnerable position of these groups, it is arguable that
South Africa should, as a matter of principle, broaden the scope of coverage to include them. While the
importance of including all the currently excluded groups cannot be denied, it is acknowledged that
it will not be financially feasible to include all of the groups at once. In prioritising the groups most
urgently in need of inclusion, two important factors are taken into consideration. Firstly, the exclusion
of certain groups may be vulnerable to constitutional challenge. The exclusion of, in particular, public
servants and migrant workers fall into this category. This article proceeds from the standpoint that
priority should be given to the inclusion of those currently excluded from the UIA where the exclusion
raises concerns of a constitutional nature. Secondly, including some groups may possibly have no or
negligible financial impact on the financial viability of the Fund, and their inclusion should therefore
be supported. In this regard, the return of contributions to undocumented migrants, the inclusion
of learners and the inclusion of the partially unemployed come to mind. However, this article also
recognises that some of the recommendations made may have a significant impact on the solvency
levels of the Fund, and that it may not be possible to accommodate all of them immediately. This
relates in particular to the introduction of unemployment benefits to employees who resign to take care
of children or to care for a terminally ill family member (the so-called “carer’s benefit”).
Description
CITATION: Dupper, O., Olivier, M. & Govindjee, A. 2010. Extending coverage of the unemployment insurance-system in South Africa. Stellenbosch Law Review = Stellenbosch Regstydskrif 21(3):438-462.
The original publication is available at https://journals.co.za/content/journal/ju_slr
The original publication is available at https://journals.co.za/content/journal/ju_slr
Keywords
Unemployment insurance -- Law and legislation -- South Africa, Unemployed -- Definition -- South Africa
Citation
Dupper, O., Olivier, M. & Govindjee, A. 2010. Extending coverage of the unemployment insurance-system in South Africa. Stellenbosch Law Review = Stellenbosch Regstydskrif 21(3):438-462.