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UIF Contributions for Domestic Workers: The 1% + 1% Explained

UIF for a domestic worker costs 2% of her wage every month: 1% deducted from her pay and 1% that you add from your own pocket. On a typical domestic wage that is less than the price of a takeaway coffee — but missing it triggers penalties, interest and a blocked claim when your worker needs the Fund most. Here is exactly how much to pay, by when, and how.

Last reviewed June 2026 · wage figures from 1 March 2026

How the 1% + 1% works

SARS, which administers the Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act, sets it out plainly: the employee contributes 1% of remuneration and the employer contributes 1%, for a total of 2%. You deduct the worker's 1% from her wage on payday and pay both halves over together — she never pays her share to the Fund herself, and you may not deduct more than 1% from her.

'Remuneration' is wider than basic salary. The UIF's own FAQ defines it as all monies received from the employer in cash or in kind, including overtime, bonuses and allowances such as food and accommodation allowances. So if you pay R3,000 cash plus benefits you value in money terms, the 2% is calculated on the full gross package, and that same gross figure is what you declare on the UI-19.

Two groups are excluded: workers employed less than 24 hours a month, and commission-only earners. There is also a ceiling — contributions are calculated on remuneration up to R17,712 per month (in effect since 1 June 2021), so the contribution is capped at R177.12 from each side. Very few domestic wages reach the ceiling, but it matters for full-time live-in staff with high packages.

What you actually pay: a quick table

The arithmetic is simple — 1% each way — but it helps to see it in rands. For context, a full-time worker on a 45-hour week at the 2026 national minimum wage of R30.23 per hour earns about R5,895 a month (weekly wage × 52 ÷ 12, the conversion the UI-19 itself prescribes).

The deadline: the 7th of the month

Contributions must reach the Fund within seven days after the end of the month in which you deducted them — in plain terms, January's UIF is due by 7 February. SARS adds that when the 7th falls on a weekend or public holiday, payment must be made by the last business day before it, so pay early in that week rather than on the dot. The monthly return (your declaration of who worked and what they earned) follows the same rhythm: uFiling requires returns no later than the 7th of each month for the preceding month.

The UIF FAQ also allows a convenience option for households: you may pay the whole year's contributions up-front, within seven days after the start of the UIF financial year (which runs 1 March to end-February). Even then, you may not deduct the worker's full year's share from her pay in advance — her 1% must still come off wage by wage — and you must still declare at least annually or whenever her details change. If you give an increase mid-year, reconcile and pay in the difference from the month the increase takes effect.

How to pay: uFiling, or SARS if you run payroll

For a private household the standard route is uFiling (ufiling.labour.gov.za), the UIF's free online service: you register once, capture your worker's details, submit the monthly return and pay electronically — the site offers an instructed debit-pull facility and direct integrations with major banks. Everything lives under your UIF employer reference number from the UI-8D registration.

There is one fork in the road: if you are registered with SARS as an employer for PAYE or the Skills Development Levy (rare for households, common if you employ staff through a business), you must pay UIF to SARS on the monthly EMP201 return instead. The uFiling site is explicit that SARS-registered employers may still submit returns online but may not pay via uFiling. Pick one lane — the UIF FAQ warns it takes no responsibility for penalties when money is paid to the wrong collector.

Arrears and backpay: what catching up costs

If you have never registered, or you registered but stopped paying, the debt does not disappear. The Fund calculates the full 2% per month for the entire unpaid period — backdated to your worker's start date, but no earlier than 1 April 2003, when domestic workers came into the system — then adds a 10% penalty on the amount owed plus interest calculated daily until you settle.

Here is the part that surprises employers: by law you cannot recover the arrear employee share from your worker. For the whole catch-up period you are liable for both halves, plus the penalty and interest; you may only resume deducting her 1% from current wages going forward. The earlier you regularise, the smaller the bill — and an unregistered or arrear employer is the most common reason a domestic worker's benefit claim hits a wall.

Keep proof, every month

Record the deduction on her payslip, keep your uFiling payment confirmations or SARS receipts, and keep copies of every declaration. If the Fund's records and yours ever disagree — at claim time, typically — your proof of payment and declarations settle the matter quickly. A simple folder or email label with twelve payment confirmations a year is all the admin this requires.

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