Labour law | Skills development in the workplace

SDA, SDLA, SETA, SAQA, NQF, ETQA, CHE

Some form of secret coded language? Perhaps the electronic password to a Swiss bank account? A military communication? I’m afraid not. These are just a few examples of the lingo thrown around in education, training and accreditation circles. In this article, I hope to unpack the first three acronyms listed above, and in a subsequent article we will look at the last four.

The Skills Development Act 97 of 1998 (SDA) and the Skills Development Levies Act 9 of 1999 (SDLA), along with several regulations, are in place to encourage companies to develop a training strategy and to provide a financial incentive to implement the training.

The business training levy
For organisations whose annual payroll exceeds R500 000, a compulsory skills development levy (1% of the organisation’s monthly payroll) must be paid to the South African Revenue Service (SARS).

Currently, SARS gives all the money received from the SDL over to the appropriate Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA). SETAs are industry training boards. Each separate economic sector has one SETA that administers the levies for the sector into which the organisation falls. The SETA can currently take 10% (maximum) of the total levy for administration costs, which is unrecoverable by the employer.

Fifty per cent is claimable in a mandatory grant claim by the company that paid the SDL, provided that they submit a workplace skills plan and an annual training report. Twenty per cent is claimable through the discretionary grant applications – although this is not always guaranteed.

The final 20% is put towards the Department of Labour's National Skills Fund for large public skills development projects

The grants
In order to claim back some of the money paid out in their SDL, employers must submit reports to their SETA proving completion of certain prescribed training-related activities.

The organisation can claim back the first grant (50% of the total levy) by completing both of two tasks. These are the registration of a “skills development facilitator” (a formally designated employee charged with the preparation and implementation of the skills plan of the company), and submission of a “workplace skills plan” and an annual training report for the year in accordance with regulated guidelines. As an employer, you should refer to the Department of Labour website (www.labour.gov.za) for guidelines regarding these activities. The regulations state that SETAs must pay this grant amount if the tasks are completed satisfactorily. Grants are given for actual training programs that are completed, recorded and submitted.

Further discretionary grants totalling at least 20% of the total levy can be made available for SETAs to distribute for “special skills initiatives in its sector” (such as apprenticeships or other contract-based training, and other relevant programs).

How are GetSmarter University courses accredited?                                                         
The majority of GetSmarter courses are held in partnership with top South African Universities. South African Universities obtain accreditation for their qualifications through the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) of the Council on Higher Education (CHE). This body is recognised as the Education and Training Quality Assurance body (ETQA) by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA).

Are GetSmarter University courses registered on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF)?
As of yet, the HEQC of the CHE only accredits qualifications and not "short courses" of less than 120 credits (a year of full time study). Therefore, GetSmarter University courses are not registered on the NQF and are non-credit-bearing. Rather, the courses are of a university standard and result in a certificate issued by the University.

Are GetSmarter industry partner courses registered on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF)?                       
GetSmarter industry partner courses are not registered on the NQF and are non-credit-bearing. Rather, the courses equip students with the highest level of industry standard skills and result in a certificate issued by our expert industry partners.

What does this mean with regard to the reimbursement of fees?
Provided that the course has been incorporated into the companies' skills development plan that is submitted to the applicable SETA, when employees attend a GetSmarter course (university and non-university courses), companies can claim money from their skills levy.

In the next article we will take a closer look at the accreditation and quality assurance system in South Africa, the role players, the framework and the hierarchy.

Thank you to Handri Stadler from Thrive Consulting for her input on the accuracy of this article's content.

Rob Paddock is the Operations Manager at GetSmarter.

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