It’s that time of the year again; businesses will soon need to begin compiling their workplace skills plan and annual training report and submit them online.
Businesses submit info for the period 01 April to 31 March via a registered skills development facilitator (SDF) and is submitted to the SETA with which the organisation is registered. The submission is due by 30 April each year.
Workplace skills plans (WSP) document skills needs in an organisation and describe the range of skills development interventions that an organisation will use to address these needs. The WSP facilitates access to the SETA (Sector Education and Training Authority) for mandatory grants for skills training. A list of SETAs in South Africa is available on https://www.vocational.co.za/
Businesses are required to report against their WSP in an Annual Training Report (ATR) that shows how they have addressed the priority skills defined in their WSP.
The benefit to a business: Employers may claim 20% of their total levy contribution annually, called the Mandatory Grant, through submission of a Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) and Annual Training Report (ATR) due by 30 April each year. Only levy paying organisations may access mandatory grant funding.
Benefits of submitting your reports in time:
• Recover up to 20% mandatory grant from Skills Development Levies paid to SARS in the financial period.
• Your Plan and Report may be used as an application for a discretionary grant for essential training.
• Points will be earned under the revised B-BBEE Codes for the Skills Development priority element upon successful submission of the Plan and Report.
• Skills Development positively promotes succession planning and Employment Equity in the workplace.
An important purpose of the WSP is that it also provides important sector information to the SETA on employee profiles, skills needs and skills development interventions. This information in turn informs the development of the SETAs sector skills plan (SSP). The SSPs contribute to the national skills development agenda defined in the National Skills Development Plan.
Note: Where an employer expects that the total salaries will be more than R500 000 over the next 12 months, that employer becomes liable to pay a Skills Development Levy (SDL). The contribution is 1% of the total amount paid in salaries to employees (including overtime payments, leave pay, bonuses, commissions and lump sum payments).
The amounts deducted or withheld by the employer must be paid to SARS on a monthly basis, by completing the Monthly Employer Declaration (EMP201). The EMP201 is a payment declaration in which the employer declares the total payment together with the allocations for PAYE, SDL, UIF and/or Employment Tax Incentive (ETI).
These SDL contributions are distributed by SARS to the various SETAs in South Africa.
Relevant Acts, Plans, Reports and Government Departments. This illustrates the inter-related nature of something as basic as training and development of employees.
Skills Development Act Number 97 of 1998
Skills Development Levies Act Number 9 of 1999
Income Tax Act Act Number 58 of 1962
Tax Administration Act No. 28 of 2011
Employment Equity Act Number 55 of 1998
B-BBEE Amendment Number Act 46 of 2013
Employment Tax Incentive Act Number 26 of 2013
National Skills Development Plan (NDP)
Sector Skills Plan (SSP) for the period 2019 and beyond
Workplace Skills Plan (WSP)
Annual Training Report (ATR)
SARS (the Skills Development Levies are administered by SARS)
Department of Labour
Department of Higher Education and Training
BEE Commission
Keep in mind that the WSP and ATR reports have similar labour demographics info as the Employment Equity Reports and all reports have input into the B-BBEE scorecard via Skills Development.
Author Craig Tonkin