Monday Madness with Julandie Swart

Monday Madness: If your UIF declarations and payroll don’t match… You could trigger a Department of Labour inspection.

Here’s what employers need to understand:

The Powers of a Labour Inspector

A Labour Inspector has the legal authority to:

• Enter your workplace without prior notice • Request payroll records, UIF declarations, and proof of contributions • Interview employees • Issue compliance orders • Recommend fines or further enforcement action

This is not optional cooperation. It is statutory authority.

What to Expect During an Inspection

During an inspection, they will check:

UIF registration status

Employee registration and monthly declarations

Salary information vs declared earnings • Proof of payments made to SARS • Employment contracts and employment records

If your records do not reconcile, it becomes a compliance matter.

Paying SARS does not automatically mean UIF is allocated.

If there is no correct UIF Reference number and no submitted declarations, contributions do not distribute correctly to the employee’s profile.

Money paid does not equal money allocated.

Submitting through payroll is also not verification.

Payroll submissions do not confirm that:

Employees are correctly registered

Monthly declarations were successfully accepted

Earnings reconcile with the UI.19

If there is a mismatch, the system flags it — and claims stall.

Employer Responsibility Does Not End at Payment

The biggest mistake employers make is assuming: “We pay SARS, so we are compliant.”

Contributions paid without correct UIF declarations do not protect you.

If payroll and declarations do not align, the system flags it — and inspections can follow.

An employee who cannot access their UIF because declarations were incorrect, missing, or mismatched remains an employer compliance issue.

Until the employee successfully accesses their UIF benefits, compliance remains the employer’s responsibility.

That is the standard.

Compliance is not: “We paid.” Compliance is: “The employee can claim without a problem.”

Compliance is not reactive. It must be prepared.