UIF back pay for your domestic worker: the complete guide for employers

Do you owe UIF back pay?

Hours count per employer. One 8-hour day a week is about 34.7 hours a month, so a worker who comes once a week for a full day is covered. If she works for three households, each household checks its own hours.

How to check if you are behind

• You have no UIF reference number. Then you never registered, and nothing has been declared or paid for her under your name.
• You have a number. Your profile on uFiling, the Department of Employment and Labour's online UIF system, shows the declarations and payments made under it. You can also ask your nearest labour centre. Look for months where nothing was declared for her, or nothing was paid.
• She tried to claim and was turned away. If she was told she is not declared on your number, the payments may have gone in without the declarations. That is fixed by declaring the missed months.

How far back it goes

The starting point is the day she started working for you, not the day you registered. The Department of Employment and Labour decides how far back to hold an employer liable, case by case, and the letter that confirms your UIF registration does not say. Two limits apply:

• 1 April 2003. Nothing before this date is ever owed, because that is when domestic workers came into UIF.
• About five years on uFiling. uFiling usually accepts declarations going back about five years. The Department has accepted older ones when they were submitted properly.

So nobody can give you an exact figure for how far back you owe until it is checked for your case. We check it before we quote you.

What it costs

Two kinds of money are involved: what goes to the Unemployment Insurance Fund, and our fee if you have it done for you.

What goes to the Fund

• Contributions: 2% of her pay for every missed month. Use what you actually paid her each month, not today's wage. UIF is worked out on pay up to R17,712 a month, which almost never affects a domestic worker.
• The penalty: 10% of the unpaid amount, charged once as soon as a payment is late. It is charged once on each unpaid amount, not again for every month it stays unpaid. Only the UIF Commissioner can waive it.
• Interest: the law also allows interest at the prescribed rate (10.50% a year from 1 September 2026), from the day after each amount was due. We tell you if the Fund charges it.

What one missed year costs at different wages, before any interest:

Who pays which share

Going forward, UIF is 1% from you and 1% from her pay. For back months it depends on the tax year, which runs from 1 March to the end of February:

• Months in an earlier tax year (before 1 March 2026): you pay the full 2%. The law does not let you take her 1% from her pay after the tax year it was due in.
• Months in this tax year (from 1 March 2026): her 1% can still come off her pay, but never more than she owes for those months.

A worked example

She works four days a week and started on 1 March 2024. Her pay went up each March: R4,500 a month for the first year, R5,000 for the second, and R5,400 since March 2026. Nothing was ever declared or paid, and you fix it in October 2026, so March 2024 to September 2026 is owed.

If you had used today's R5,400 for all 31 months, you would have worked out R3,348 in contributions, R312 more than you actually owe. That is why the real pay for each month matters.

Our fee

For two workers that is R900 for the catch-up, or R1,800 with registration. You pay us the back months and the penalty, and we pay them to the Fund under your UIF reference number. Our fee is the only part we keep. You see every amount before anything is paid. All our prices are side by side on the pricing page.

What declared months do for her

Paying the money is half the job. Each missed month also has to be declared under your UIF reference number, with her ID or passport number, her start date and her pay for that month. Until a month is declared, the money sits against your account and is not credited to her.

Declared months are what let her claim if she loses her job, goes on maternity leave or is too ill to work. They also build up her credits: one day of benefit for every five days she worked as a contributor, up to 365 days in the four years before she claims.

If she works on a passport

The rules are the same. If she is employed lawfully and works 24 hours or more a month for you, UIF applies, and you declare her under her passport or permit number.

An official at the UIF told us in October 2026 that the UIF checks every ID number with Home Affairs, that a passport number fails that check, and that its internal system cannot record monthly declarations made under a passport number against her. When she claims, the labour centre creates a number for her at that point. So for a worker on a passport, the months may only show against her name once she claims. Keep declaring her every month and keep every payslip, because that is the record she will need on the day she claims. We raised this at the UN roundtable on migrant workers in October 2026. More in our guide to employing a foreign domestic worker.

What happens if you leave it

Each month that passes adds another 2% of her pay to what you owe, and each late payment carries a once-off 10% penalty. The law also allows interest on late amounts. The missed months stay off her record, so she cannot claim for them. A labour inspector who finds UIF unpaid can order you to put it right by a set date.

If you come forward yourself, the usual charge is the once-off 10% penalty. The heavier penalty in the law, up to double the contribution, is for an employer who deliberately evades paying.

How to fix it

Doing it yourself

1. Register as an employer on uFiling, or with the UI-8D and UI-19 forms, if you do not have a UIF reference number. See how to register for UIF.
2. Find her real start date with you, and what you paid her each month since then.
3. Work out 2% of each month's pay, and the 10% penalty on the total.
4. Declare every missed month under your number, with her ID or passport number and her pay.
5. Pay the contributions to the Fund with your UIF reference number as the payment reference, and keep the proof. uFiling does not take payment of the penalty and interest: the UIF gives you that amount and a payment reference separately.
6. Follow up until the months show against her name.

Each step in detail, with the forms, is in UIF arrears, step by step.

Having AskMandla do it

We do the whole catch-up for you. We prepare and submit your UIF registration if you need one, and check how far back you owe. We work out every missed month from her real pay, declare each month under your number and pay it over. Then we follow up with the Department every week until the months show against her name (for a worker on a passport, see above). You see every amount before anything is paid.

What we need from you:

• Her start date with you, as accurately as you can
• What you paid her each month: payslips, bank transfers or your own record
• Her ID number, or her passport or permit number
• Your UIF reference number, if you have one
• If you are not registered yet: a copy of your ID and proof of your home address

Start on UIF back pay, done for you or message Mandla on WhatsApp.

After the catch-up

UIF is due every month, by the 7th of the next month. If you only do the catch-up, you declare and pay it yourself on uFiling from then on, and each late payment carries a once-off 10% penalty. On our full service we declare and pay her UIF with her pay every month, from your monthly wallet top-up, so you don't have to remember it, and a catch-up carries no fee from us. The full service is R450 once-off and R49 a month per worker.

Questions people ask

What is UIF back pay?

UIF back pay, also called a UIF catch-up or UIF arrears, is the UIF you should have paid for your domestic worker in past months. It is 2% of her pay for every missed month, plus a once-off 10% penalty on the unpaid amount, declared under your UIF number and paid to the Unemployment Insurance Fund.

Can I pay UIF back pay without registering first?

No. You need your own UIF reference number before you can declare her or pay anything in. Register first, then catch up. AskMandla does both: R450 per worker for registration and R450 per worker for the catch-up. On our full service, the R450 setup covers registration and the catch-up has no fee.

Is there a time limit on UIF back pay?

Nothing before 1 April 2003 is ever owed. After that, the Department decides how far back to hold you liable. uFiling usually accepts declarations going back about five years, and the Department has accepted older ones. We check your case before quoting.

Do I owe UIF back pay for a part-time domestic worker?

Yes, if she works 24 hours or more a month for you. One 8-hour day a week is about 34.7 hours a month, so it counts. Under 24 hours a month with you, no UIF was owed.

Can the 10% penalty be waived?

Only the UIF Commissioner can waive it, after looking at the circumstances. You can ask the Department to consider it. AskMandla does not promise a waiver, and our quotes include the penalty.

Can I take the back pay from my worker's wages?

Only her 1% for months in this tax year (since 1 March 2026), and never more than she owes. For months in an earlier tax year you pay the full 2% yourself.

How long does a UIF catch-up take?

Once everything is submitted, the Department usually takes from a few days to a few weeks to show the months against her name. When AskMandla does it, we follow up every week until it does.

How much does AskMandla charge for UIF back pay?

No fee on our full service. On its own, R450 once-off per worker, however many months it covers. If you are not registered for UIF yet, R900 per worker including registration. The contributions and the penalty go to the Fund, not to us.

Sources

• Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act 4 of 2002: section 7(3)(c) and 7(4) (arrear contributions after the tax year), section 12 (interest at the prescribed rate), section 13(1) (the 10% penalty and the Commissioner's power to waive it) and section 13(2) to (3) (the heavier penalty for deliberate evasion)
• Unemployment Insurance Act 63 of 2001, section 3 (domestic workers covered from 1 April 2003) and section 13(3), as amended by Act 10 of 2016 (one day's benefit for every five days worked, up to 365 days)
• SARS, interest rates table (Table 1, prescribed rate)
• The UIF, in conversation with AskMandla, October 2026 (declarations under a passport number)