Most people know UIF for unemployment, but it also pays out when you cannot work because of illness or injury. If you have been signed off and you are earning less than your normal wage as a result, UIF illness benefits can replace part of your income. Here is how they work and how to claim.
Illness benefits support contributors who are temporarily unable to work due to illness or injury and who, as a result, receive reduced pay or no pay. They are paid from the same fund as unemployment benefits and use the same calculation method.
The amount uses the same 38% to 60% income replacement scale as unemployment benefits, based on your average salary capped at the R17,712 ceiling. So a lower earner might receive around 50–60% of their daily income, while someone at or above the ceiling receives 38%. You can estimate it with the payout figures in our how much will I get guide, since the scale is identical.
Illness benefits are paid for the period you are unable to work, drawn against your accumulated credit days — the same one-day-per-four-worked system, up to 365 days. They stop when you recover and return to work, or when your credits run out.
The medical certificate is the key extra document here — it must clearly state the period you were unfit to work. For the full list, see documents needed to claim UIF.
You apply the same way as any other claim — online through uFiling or in person at a Labour Centre. Follow our step-by-step claim guide, and select the illness benefit option. After applying, you can check your status online.
In my experience the biggest hold-up on illness claims is an unclear or incomplete medical certificate. Ask your doctor to state the exact dates you were unable to work and the nature of the incapacity. A vague note saying you were “unwell” without dates often gets the claim sent back.
Illness benefits use the same income replacement sliding scale as unemployment — between 38% and 60% of your daily income, with lower earners receiving the higher percentage, all capped at the R17,712 ceiling. It is not a flat rate like maternity.
If Sipho earns R10,000 a month and is signed off sick, his daily income is about R329, his replacement rate roughly 48%, giving a daily benefit near R158 — about R4,800 a month for the period he is unable to work, subject to his available credit days. You can model your own figure on the payout page.
As with other benefits, payment is limited by your credit days (one earned for every four days worked, up to 365). The benefit covers the period a doctor certifies you cannot work, up to that credit limit. It is intended for longer absences, not a day or two off.
You will need your ID, a medical certificate covering the period you could not work, your UI-19, banking details and recent payslips — the full list is in documents needed to claim UIF. Apply through uFiling or a Labour Centre, the same way you would for an unemployment claim, and apply within six months.
They are payments from the UIF for contributors who cannot work due to illness or injury that is not work-related and who are therefore earning less than their normal salary.
They use the same 38–60% sliding scale as unemployment benefits, based on your salary capped at R17,712. Lower earners receive a higher percentage.
No. If your illness or injury is caused by your job, that is usually handled by the Compensation Fund (COIDA). UIF illness benefits are for illness that is not work-related.
Your ID, a medical certificate stating the exact period you could not work, the UI-19, banking details and recent payslips.
General information and estimate-based explanation, not financial or legal advice. Always confirm with the Department of Employment and Labour or SARS.