Do I qualify for the Covid-19 TERS if I was a permanent employee who paid UIF monthly?

The long answer

If you are not receiving any salary at all from your employer, you would qualify for normal UIF benefits. This is when the employer has closed the business and you have been retrenched.

If you were put on short time or reduced time as a result of Covid-19, UIF would pay the difference between the amount the employer pays and the normal UIF you would get if you were unemployed. This called Reduced Work Time Benefit.

If your employer is unable to pay the salaries of his employees because of Covid-19, he can apply for the Covid-19 TERS. But you can’t apply for UIF at the same time as your employer has applied for Covid-19 TERS. So either your employer applies for Covid-19 TERS or you apply for UIF – you can’t do both.