Suspension of the E-CC System – Relaxation of Confidentiality
The by-line in the footer of PAGSA Newsflashes states that the newsflashes are copyrighted in favour of the PAGSA and are confidential to PAGSA members and the statutory bodies that the PAGSA partners with. These bodies include, but are not limited to, the Employment Equity Directorate, the Unemployment Insurance Fund, the Compensation Fund, and SARS. After the issue earlier in March of PAGSA Newsflash 2022-15 that explained the ‘Curbing of ETI Abuse’ new requirements, the PAGSA was requested to relax the confidentiality requirement for that newsflash only, and because of the complexity of the matter, and in the interests of compliant application of the new ETI requirements by all parties, the PAGSA agreed in PAGSA Newsflash 2022-16 to relax the confidentiality requirements. Recently, the PAGSA has been asked to relax the confidentiality requirements of PAGSA Newsflash 2022-18 (the suspension of the UIF E-CC System). The UIF Electronic Compliance Certificate system was introduced towards the end of January 2021, introducing historical declaration compliance requirements that in cases were impossible to comply with, resulting in many employers no longer being able to tender successfully. Not being able to tender successfully resulted in lost opportunities, damage to credibility with clients, unnecessary administration, problem follow-ups, and general time wastage, all of which comes at a cost. The negative impact potentially ripples forward to retrenchments, increased unemployment levels (plus the cost of the associated UIF benefit claims), and in general, on the economy of the country. As a result of submissions from organisations including the PAGSA, it was announced in a meeting held on 12 April 2022 that the UIF E-CC system would be suspended from that date, confirmed in PAGSA Newsflash 2022-18. For these reasons, the PAGSA has decided to relax the confidentiality requirements of PAGSA Newsflash 2022-18 (the suspension of the UIF E-CC System). This means that you can issue PAGSA Newsflash 2022-18 directly to your clients should you so wish, resulting in a consistent message being issued to employers. However we ask that should you do so, that you firstly acknowledge the PAGSA as the author of the document, and secondly that you request your clients to not distribute the information outside of their business environment. Regards,
Rob Cooper
Chairman Payroll Authors Group of South Africa
All information provided by the PAGSA is subject to our DISCLAIMER.