Skills Development Facilitation
The purpose of the Skills Development Act is to encourage employers to develop and improve the skills of their employees.
In terms of the Act, organisations that have an annual payroll of over R500 000 are required to pay a Skills Development Levy of 1% of their payroll to SARS. SARS then pays this across to the relevant Skills Education and Training Authority (SETA).
By submitting a Mandatory Grant application to the relevant SETA, organisations can claim up to 20% of this levy back in the form of a Mandatory Grant.
In addition, once the Mandatory Grant Application has been accepted by the SETA, the organisation is eligible to apply for discretionary grants from the SETA. Discretionary grants usually fund longer-term training initiatives like learnerships/ apprenticeships or internships that address skills shortages in the industry.
The successful submission of a Mandatory Grant is a key requirement for the Skills Development pillar of the BEE Scorecard.
PeopleWise assists businesses in the following ways:
- PeopleWise is a registered Skills Development Facilitator with the majority of the SETAs. We submit both Mandatory and Discretionary grant applications to the SETA’s on our clients’ behalf.
- Our approach is to assist our clients in developing an Annual Training Plan which meets their strategic and operational needs through training and developing their employees. If applicable, we ensure that the Annual Training Plan is aligned with the Skills Spend targets contained in the Skills Development pillar of the BEE Codes.
- We source relevant training providers and facilitate the roll-out of the Annual Training Plan on an ongoing basis throughout the year.
2. Learnerships
- Identify learnerships that might be of benefit to the organisation.
- Facilitate the implementation of the learnership and the payment of grants.