UIF & SDL
The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) takes 1% of your remuneration from you, capped at a monthly ceiling — and your employer matches it. The Skills Development Levy (SDL) is a separate 1% levy paid only by the employer. Only your 1% UIF reduces your take-home; the rest is on top. The result is an estimate.
UIF — the only one that comes off your pay
The Unemployment Insurance Fund contribution is 1% of your remuneration, deducted from your pay each month. It is capped once your pay passes the monthly earnings ceiling of R17 712: nothing is charged on the part of your salary above the ceiling, so the most you ever contribute is R177,12 a month, however high your salary. Your employer pays a matching 1%, capped the same way — but that matching contribution is an employer cost, on top of your wage, never deducted from your take-home. Alongside PAYE, your own 1% UIF is the only thing that reduces your net pay.
That R17 712 monthly ceiling was set on 1 June 2021 by Government Gazette 44641 and has not changed since, so the capped maximum has held steady across several tax years.
SDL — an employer-only levy, never a deduction
The Skills Development Levy is 1% of the payroll, paid entirely by the employer to fund skills training. It is never deducted from an employee — if you see SDL treated as a line off your pay, that is wrong. Employers whose total payroll is at or below R500 000 over the coming year are exempt from the levy altogether.
COIDA — also on the employer
There is a further employer-side cost worth naming: contributions to the Compensation Fund under COIDA (workplace-injury and disease cover). Like SDL and the employer’s share of UIF, it is risk-based, paid by the employer, and never withheld from your wage. This calculator does not model COIDA, but it belongs on the employer’s side of the ledger, not yours.
Why the calculator shows them separately
Only your 1% employee UIF reduces your take-home. The matching employer UIF and the SDL are shown as separate on-cost rows and folded into the total cost to the employer — so you can see the full picture without ever mistaking an employer cost for a deduction. The rates follow the sources cited on this page; a recent change may not be reflected here yet, and they carry no final sign-off from us.
The full content of this page is still being written.