Only 5% of employers who contribute to the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) have migrated to online filing since August 2006.
This is according to commissioner Boas Seruwe, who provided the media with a UIF progress report yesterday.
Seruwe said "u-filing" has seen lower uptake than the Department of Labour would have hoped, as "people are a bit reluctant to use technology" at this stage.
U-filing is a Web-based filing and payment system modelled on the South African Revenue Services` e-filing model.
Labour minister Membathisi Mdladlana introduced the system last year as a "24-hour one-stop shop" for employers wanting to comply with labour legislation.
In the 2006/7 financial year, the UIF collected R8.1 billion in contributions, with R2.8 billion in benefits being paid out to contributing workers who became unemployed.
According to Seruwe, the fund will now embark on an "intensive media campaign" to inform employers of the benefits of filing online, in a bid to increase uptake levels.
The UIF is also moving towards an environment where all documentation is electronically captured in order to reduce paperwork and lead times on grant claims.
In addition, Seruwe maintains the UIF database is "probably the best we could have" in terms of who is actually employed and who is unemployed.
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