Business welcomes the extension of the Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) benefit beyond its original 3-month term by an additional month-and-a-half until mid-August.
The announcement of this today by Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour, Ms Boitumelo Moloi, will come as a relief to the many employers and employees whose businesses are either unable to operate at all or who are having to operate on only a partial basis. Business is hopeful that the benefit will ultimately be extended to the end of September, but appreciates that the current extension coincides with the current timeline of the statutory State of Disaster.
Business would like to applaud the positive and co-operative nature of the engagements on this issue at Nedlac over the past couple of weeks by all the social partners – government, organised labour and community.
It is hoped that the Unemployment Insurance Fund will be able to open applications for the July benefit at the earliest opportunity.
Business will continue to engage with the UIF in order to unblock the still very significant backlog in paying out claims for April, May and June.