During the submission period of verification packages on financials not older than 18 months, it came to light that a lot of companies do not comply with having a Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) or Annual Training Report (ATR) in place within their working environment. With new developments occurring on a regular basis in certain industries, the submission of the Workplace Skills Plans (WSP) and Annual Training Report (ATR) needs to be updated annually to regulate the workplace and eliminate room of irregularities.
The purpose of a WSP serves to put in place training requirements of the company and the amount of funding needed for the upcoming financial year. The WSP is a plan based on the actual training you want to complete or intend to complete for that year. The ATR stipulates the training completed.
The following is pre-requisites for when a company is eligible to submit a WSP and ATR:
- All companies who have a payroll greater than R500 000 per annum is obligated to register for the Skills Development Levies (SDL);
- Along with this registration, the company then needs to submit their WSP and ATR report to its industry SETA.
This will now allow for the scoring of points under the Skills Development Element as a priority element under the Amended Codes of Good Practice. If this was not done, no points will be awarded and any spending done will not be taken into consideration for earning of Skills Development points.
Other benefits for submitting your WSP and ATR include:
- The claim and recovery of 20% of what was spent by the company as a mandatory grant allocated from skills development levies paid to SARS and;
- If the criteria are met, the company can apply for discretionary grants from its industry SETA.
Companies who wish to earn these points under Skills Development for B-BBEE must assure that submission is done on or before the end of April each year.
Contact your SEESA Skills Development Facilitator to assist your business with its Workplace Skills Plan and Annual Training Report in order to earn points under the Skills Development Element for BEE.
About the Author:
Dominique van Deventer started his career at SEESA in 2015 and is currently working as a BEE Legal Advisor at SEESA’s Bloemfontein office. He obtained his LLB qualification from the University of the Free State.
Resources:
BBBEE Codes of Good Practice of 2013
Skills Development Act of 1998