Amendment to regulations seen as a victory for domestic and farm workers

All workers, whether or not they were registered with the Unemployment Insurance Fund at the time of the lockdown, can now apply for Covid-19 TERS funding in what has been described as a victory, particularly for farm and domestic workers.

In a joint statement, the three organisations said workers who had been previously excluded from the scheme because their employers had unlawfully failed to register them for UIF, would now qualify for the benefit.

"Domestic and farm workers have been among the worst affected groups of workers due to the precarious nature of employment in these sectors and the high levels of non-compliance from employers.

On 16 April the minister amended the original directive, ordering that employers "must" apply on behalf of workers, but there was still no enforcement mechanism to ensure they did so.

"In another amendment signed on 30 April, the government made a complete U-turn, officially allowing workers to apply individually if the employer had failed to do so.