/ 7 September 2007

Soccer teams contravening Insurance Act

Most professional football teams are making unemployment insurance fund (UIF) payments but they are still contravening the Act, the Labour Department said on Friday.

Department spokesperson Kgomotso Sebetso said 90% of employers were submitting a bulk sum in payments each month but not the breakdown of the players’ details.

”It’s a lack of awareness, they just send us the bulk figure and think it ends there,” he said, adding that the department was giving them the benefit of the doubt.

As required by law, employers had to submit their UIF payments each month with the individual employees’ details, identification numbers and remuneration.

This information was used to create and maintain a database to determine the payment due to an employee in the event of unemployment, illness, maternity, adoption and dependants.

”When players leave your club, the employer is obliged to inform the commissioner immediately with reasons for the termination of contract,” he said.

Failure to submit declarations resulted in delays and inconvenience in receiving UIF payments.

He said only 2% of the teams were not up to date with their payments. — Sapa