Claiming your Skills Development spend for BEE can become a fairly technical activity, where businesses often miss out on BEE points when Skills Development across different categories are interpreted and implemented wrongly. The following table and discussion sets out how Skills Development categories can be claimed for B-BBEE:
Cat. | Category Description | Description | Can you claim salary toward this Category? | Employed or Unemployed |
A | Instruction-based theoretical instruction alone – formally assessed by the institution | Bursaries | Yes | Employed Only |
B | Instruction-based theoretical instruction as well as some practical learning with an employer or in a simulated work environment – formally assessed through the institution | Internships | Yes | Employed Only |
C | Recognised or registered structured experiential learning in the workplace that is required after the achievement of a qualification – formally assessed by a statutory occupational or professional body | Learnerships | Yes | Both |
D | Occupationally directed instructional and work-based Learning Programme that requires a formal contract – formally assessed by an accredited body | Learnerships and Apprenticeships | Yes | Both |
E | Occupationally directed instructional and work-based Learning Programme that does not require a formal contract – formally assessed by an accredited body | Skills Programmes | Depends on credits | Both |
F | Occupationally directed informal instructional programmes | Informal training (Internal, External) Not formally assessed | No | Both |
G | Work-based informal programmes | Informal training (Internal, External) Not formally assessed | No | Both |
B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice: Statement 300 – Skills Development Amendments
When implementing Category C and D (Learnerships and Internships as described) you can claim the salary or stipend of the learner, as well as the programme cost. This will assist the company to maximize their spend under the Skills Development element of BEE.
When implementing Category A (Bursaries as described), salaries or stipends can only be claimed for employed learners. The company can use this to further their own employees and contribute to their future. This will also see more professionally qualified employees within a company.
The limitation of 15% of Skills Development spend on Category F and G (Informal Training as described) has been increased to 25%.
It is important to remember that a company cannot claim the same spend for both Learnerships and Bursaries. What this means is that if you have an employee on a Learnership, you cannot enroll that same employee on a bursary and claim both the programmes’ spend for Skills Development for BEE.