Dropping a level in BEE is the term used to describe the penalty for NOT reaching the subminimum requirements on priority elements of the BEE Scorecard. There are 8 levels of BEE compliance. If you fail to reach the subminimum (40%) for each priority element, your overall level will be determined based on your overall compliance, and a level will be subtracted from that.
Example: If you score 73/100 points overall when you are verified, and you did NOT comply with the subminimum of 40% compliance for the priority element Skills Development, then you will receive a Level 5 based on your overall score, but your certificate will be issued as a Level 6 because you are penalised with a level for failing to reach a priority element subminimum.
