The South African Post Office (SAPO) has temporarily suspended retrenchments after its business rescue practitioners (BRPs) launched an urgent application for assistance from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).
The rescue practitioners applied for relief from the UIF's Temporary Employment Relief Scheme (TERS), which would pay 75% of workers' salaries and assist in upskilling and training workers for no longer than one year. SAPO, meanwhile, would still be responsible for paying 25% of salaries.
In a statement on Wednesday, SAPO said an agreement with unions for the application was finalised in March to limit the number of employees who would be impacted by retrenchments. It said the application was a "final attempt to gain access to relief funding".