Skills Development submissions deadline looming

Do you know how important Skills Development is for your B-BBEE scorecard?

Skills development has become a strategic priority for enterprises wishing to attain or retain an acceptable B-BBEE level and also meet the requirements of the Skills Development Act. This is a reminder that the deadline for submission of Workplace Skills Plans, Pivotal Plans and Annual Training Reports to the SETA of the relevant industry is 30 April 2017. In the revised B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice, skills development is identified as a priority element and accounts for 20% of your total B-BBEE score. With the revised BEE scorecard, companies can earn maximum skills development points if they spend the required 3% or 6% of their annual payroll on  SETA-accredited training initiatives. Businesses looking to remain B-BBEE compliant on skills development are obliged to compile the aforementioned reports. Employers who submit their Workplace Skills Plans, Pivotal Plans and Annual Training Reports on time may also benefit from Mandatory Grants. Businesses will only receive points on their BEE scorecard once they can prove that a Workplace Skills Plan and Pivotal Plan had been submitted.

A prerequisite for recognising any points under skills development on your BEE scorecard is the submission of the following:

• Workplace Skills Plan
• Pivotal Plan
• Annual Training Report.

Please note that should you fail to submit your Workplace Skills Plan on time, you will forfeit the Mandatory Grant (20% of your Skills Development levies spend paid to SARS) and Discretionary Grant (potential refunding of learnerships, internships and other training interventions). Kindly contact your SERR Synergy Skills Development Facilitator for more information. We assist our clients with the completion of:

• statutory Skills Development Reports
• apply for Discretionary Grants
• investigate Mandatory Grant payments from the relevant SETA on your behalf.

Based on previous experience, we recommend that you start the Workplace Skills Plan reporting process as soon as possible as the online reporting systems are normally overloaded during the final month of reporting.