Caution for employers and employees regarding false termination information

In a recent judgement, the Labour Court found that misrepresentation of facts in a UI-19 form is a criminal offence under the Unemployment Insurance Act, 63 of 2001 (UIA)

Several employers and employees have become accustomed to terminating their employment relationships through written agreements that involve inaccurate reasons for termination.

In such cases, terminations are typically recorded as retrenchments, which allows the employee to claim unemployment benefits from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).

According to Section 16(1)(a) of the UIA, an unemployed person is entitled to unemployment benefits if the reason for their unemployment is

• the termination of the contributor’s contract of employment by his or her employer or the ending of a fixed-term contract;
• the dismissal of the contributor, as defined by section 186 of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995; or
• insolvency in terms of Insolvency Act 24 of 1936.

Recent judgements of the Labour Court have found that misrepresenting facts in a UI-19 form can result in a criminal conviction under the Unemployment Insurance Act, 63 of 2001 (UIA)

Case: Swanepoel v KPMG Services