Skills Development Levy (SDL) is paid by every employer who’s salary bill exceeds R500,000 per annum. It is 1% of the salary bill and is collected by SARS.
- 50% of this levy is then repaid to the employers on compliance with certain criteria:
- their successful submission of an Annual Training Report (ATR) and Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) (submitted to the relevant Seta by 30 June each year), appointment of a sdf and training having been conducted. This is called a Mandatory Grant Payment and if approved, is paid quarterly.
- The other 50% is used to fund the Setas & NSF (20%). The Setas use their portion for admin costs and the balance to fund the internships, learnerships, etc.
- If an employer is granted an intern/learnership, that funding is known as a Discretionary Grant as there is no entitlement. The chief measurement for a successful intern/learnership is that the recipient is employed thereafter
To apply for internships, learnerships , employers complete a Letter of Intent for funded or non-funded training.
- Non-funded training: the Seta issues a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the number of learners requested.
- Funded training: the Seta has its budget and has to allocate funds fairly across the board. They have a committee which reviews the funding requests. So, 1st the employer needs to have all its paperwork in order and then wait for the committee’s approval. MICT seem to hold back and only grant SLA’s once they’re in their new financial year.
- If funding is granted, then a Service Level Agreement (SLA) is drawn up and is signed by the Seta CEO and then by the employer. The original must be lodged with the Seta.
- The employer then complies with the SLA:
- Internship Agreements, Fixed Employment Contracts and ID Copies
- Programme Roll-Out Plan (Programme Plan with Activities Schedule per units standard )
- Uploading learners details on MICT Seta MIS Systems
- List and details of selected learners
- The progress reports are then submitted.
- The 2nd disbursement may only follow 3 months later. The Seta is asked to arrange a site visit.
- Thereafter, various site visit forms are completed and the 2nd invoice is submitted. (20% of the SLA)
- The 3rd site visit (and subsequent disbursement) has to wait a further 3 months – invoice is at 20% again.
- The 4th site visit is 3 months after that and the final invoice is for 30%.
3. In- service training (Pivotal) : The government recognized that having placed an onus on employers to employ the recipients of the funding or not qualify for further programs, there were many young South Africans who needed exposure in order to complete their training and/or financial assistance to complete their studies. Pivotal training is specifically for the 6 month experiential training needed to complete degrees; bursaries from 2nd year onwards for formal degrees, etc. – a further proviso is that the recipient must be under the age of 35. The employer is not obliged to employ the recipients.
We will help you structure your business to gain the most business-useful effect from the New BBBEE Codes scorecard and from the Employment Equity Act and SETA grant funding. Let us help you with:
- Skills development
- Disability and Skills development and Employment Equity
- Socio-Economic Development (SED), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR or CSI)
- Enterprise Development, Supplier Development, Preferential Procurement
We will help you develop a strategy, implement it and prepare for and manage the statutory returns and rating process.
A learnership involves three main parties:
- The learner/s
- The training provider/s
- The Employer/s
Although the SETA facilitates the recruitment and implementation of learnerships, Velisa Africa partners with employers to facilitate and enrol your future skilled staff into our programme.
Stop employing graduates who have no skills or experience. Contact Us if you are ready to get skilled, competent, and experienced staff members into your organisation!
For the learner, learnerships:
- Provide easy access to learning
- Increase access to employment opportunities;
- Assist in Career-Pathing and Self-developmen
- Provide a monthly stipend to learners while they learn
- Lead to the acquisition of a formal qualification
- Fast track the development of current employees; and
- Serve as an entrance into the industry for unemployed learners.
- Skilled and experienced workers;
- Development of competent staff;
- Empowerment credentials and BB-BEE points for the company; All costs are claimable towards B-BBEE scorecard targets.
- Knowledgeable and competent employees who require less supervision;
- Improved workplace productivity and quality outcomes;
- A vehicle to address employment equity targets; and
- Help fill identified skills gaps.
Section 12H provides an annual allowance and a completion allowance to employers that are a party to a qualifying learnership agreement with an employee. The annual allowance of R30 000 is subject to a pro rata reduction when the number of full months in a year of assessment is less than 12. The completion allowance is limited to R30 000 when the learnership is for a period of less than 24 full months. For longer agreements the completion allowance is R30 000 multiplied by the number of consecutive 12-month periods covered by the agreement. The allowances are increased to R50 000 for learnerships entered into with employees having a disability.
A Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) is a strategic document that articulates how the employer is going to address the training and development needs in the workplace. This process should be an all-inclusive one. The employer should consult with all employees or representatives, irrespective of their levels or rank in the company.
The Annual Training Report (ATR) is an accurate account of all training that has taken place in the reporting period within the organisation.
The WSP and ATR data needs to be submitted to the relevant SETA between 1 April and 30 April each year; this is a legislated date and is enforced throughout all SETA’s.
The Workplace Skills Plan is an annual training plan starting from the first of April in the current year, until the end of March in the following year, e.g. 1 April 2016 – 31 March 2017.
The Annual Training Report is an annual report of training that has taken place from the First of April of the previous year, to the end of March in the current year, e.g. 1 April 2015 – 31 March 2016.
The Workplace Skills Plan serves to structure the type and amount of training for the year ahead, and is based on the skills needs of the organisation. A good WSP should consider current and future needs, taking into account gaps identified through a skills audit, the performance management system, succession planning initiatives, and any new process or technology changes planned for the year. Management discusses the company’s goals with employees who in turn commit to the process of achieving these goals. Management gets the opportunity to discover talent as well as skills that they did not know that they had.
The WSP/ATR submission provides access to the mandatory grant, as well as discretionary grants advertised by the SETA. This data provides the SETA with insight into its specific industries to better equip them to provide further development and support to its stakeholders. WSP and ATR submission also enables a company to receive points for BEE purposes.
Description Skills Development Facilitator (SDF) is a resource appointed by the employer to assist with SETA related duties. Rolls of the SDF are to compile and submit WSP and ATR information to the relevant SETA in line with the requirements of the specific SETA, as well as assist with implementation of the WSP.
The Services SETA makes use of the Skills Development Management System (SDMS) for electronic submission of all WSP and ATR data. The SDSM is an online system.
Yes and No, WSP and ATR’s need to be submitted to the SETA that your company has been registered under, however NPO, NGO or an exempted companies may submit their information via the SDMS system by allowing the system to generate a Non Levy Paying (NLP) number.
Yes, a company may report on any training that has taken place within the organisation regardless of the outcome, as well as internal and informal training. All training reported on will need to be able to be supported by proof of the intervention taking place.
The Services SETA will not penalise employers for not reporting on information that was planned in a previous year. However reports need to be completed as accurately as possible.
A company’s SDL number is allocated by SARS, and may be obtained from the nearest SARS office.
As legislated by the Skills Developments Levies Act, the mandatory grant is set at a maximum of 20 percent of the Skills Development Levy (1 percent of the company’s annual payroll) paid by the company, which is accessible through submission of a WSP and ATR.
If the SDMS does not recognise your SDL number and you have confirmed your registration with the Services SETA, a Non Levy Paying (NLP) number may be generated to complete the submission while the system gets updated.
Any company that pays more than R500 000 on its annual payroll automatically qualifies to pay a Skills Development Levy and is eligible for a mandatory grant payback on submission of WSP/ATR.
External training is calculated via invoices paid for training received and needs to be supported by an invoice for the training.
Internal training may be calculated per person by the following formula:
(Hourly rate of staff member trained) x (No. Hours trained) / (No. Staff trained) = Average cost pp.
Along with invoices, the Services SETA requires the Authorisation page (obtainable via the SDMS) to be completed by the SDF and company, a cancelled check or bank verified banking details of the company, and Annexure C (obtainable via the SDMS) completed with a summary of training reported on.
Companies are classified in the following way for the SETA’s:
- Small: 1 – 49 permanent employees
- Medium: 50 – 149 permanent employees
- Large: 150+ permanent employees
Assistance for WSP/ATR submission is offered by the Services SETA Mandatory Grant division through workshops and one on one support, as well as the nearest Services SETA regional office. Assistance may also be found via the Services SETA website and the SDMS. Please ensure assistance is requested timeously, as there is no guarantee of response near the deadline date.
PIVOTAL (Professional, Vocational, Technical and Academic Learning) is any formal training that leads to a learner achieving a full qualification, such as a certificate, diploma, Degree, etc. This training is reported in the same way as the normal training, but just marked as PIVOTAL in the WSP/ATR submission.
