Stay compliant and foster workforce development with expert preparation and submission of your Workplace Skills Plan and Annual Training Report.
The annual deadline of 30 April is fast approaching for all registered South African employers to submit their Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) and Annual Training Report (ATR). Don’t get caught unprepared!
As a quick reminder, the Skills Development Act requires that any registered company with an annual payroll over R500,000 must pay skills development levies. You are then required to submit a WSP and ATR annually to your relevant Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA).
But what exactly are these documents and why does it matter if you submit them on time?
The Workplace Skills Plan outlines any current skills gaps in your company and the training initiatives you will implement over the next year to address them. The Annual Training Report then shows your progress made on last year’s planned training.
Submitting these documents on time matters for two big reasons:
- It shows you are proactively addressing skills shortages and meeting legal requirements. This strategic workforce planning empowers your company to fill competence gaps.
- Timely submission makes you eligible to recover up to 69.5% of your skills development levies from your SETA in the form of mandatory (20%) and discretionary (49.5%) grants. That’s funding you can use for further training!
On top of this, compliance with the Skills Development Act is also critical for achieving points on the important BBBEE scorecard. As a priority element, failure to meet skills development targets could actually drop your BBBEE level. Worst of all, no WSP/ATR submission means zero points!
The good news is that you don’t have to tackle this alone. If preparing these documents feels overwhelming, specialized Skills Development Facilitators can provide guidance and ensure you submit accurately and on time.
Don’t let the WSP/ATR deadline sneak up on you. Be proactive and get ready now to submit on time, reap the rewards of skills grants, and boost your BBBEE standing. Your employees and business will thank you!