By now, most business owners have seen many reminders on the internet about the deadline for Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) and Annual Training Report (ATR) submissions that are due 30 April 2023. Skills Development legislation currently determines that any business with an annual payroll of over R500 000 must submit their WSPs and ATRs – if this is your business, then you may wonder where even to start preparing for these submissions and why you should comply at all.
Why is WSP/ATR Submission beneficial to your business?
While this compliance may seem cumbersome at first, the truth is that there are tangible benefits for your business to submit a WSP and ATR. If you meet the requirements of these submissions, your business can claim back up to 20% of your Skills Development Levy (SDL) from the specific industry’s SETA. The WSP/ATR Submission is also a core component of the Skills Development priority element on your BEE Scorecard.
- Mandatory & Discretionary Grants
Your WSP/ATR Submission allows you to access mandatory grants, and you can apply for discretionary grants from your SETA, to help fund your training. - Learnership tax rebates
When planning your training for the year, always keep in mind that any registered Learnership can award your company with Tax Rebates from SARS. You can claim a Tax Rebate of R80 000 for an able-bodied learner and R120 000 for a Disabled learner. These rebates are allocated per Learner and can give your company a good financial boost. - Better BEE Scores
Skills Development is one of the key elements on the BEE scorecard, as well as the most beneficial when implemented correctly. Aligning your WSP/ATR to your BEE could be the key factor in gaining 1 to even 2 BEE levels. - Better employees for more productivity
This is simple – better-trained employees’ equal better productivity and can promote your business with employees who feel empowered by their employer. If employee retention is a priority, training is an effective solution to benefit everyone.
If this is your year for a WSP/ATR Submission, you might be worried about the administrative burden and the looming deadline on 30 April 2023. Don’t panic – you still have time. First, ensure that you have the following information available:
- Employee Profile: a list of every employee who works for you, with their occupational level, gender, race, and other demographic information you have.
- All training that has been completed in the previous year: invoices and proof of training (certificates/attendance registers).
GET STARTED WITH THESE STEPS:
- Appoint a Skills Development Facilitator (SDF): An SDF is a person trained and qualified to complete your submissions with the SETA. They have the relevant knowledge to quickly assess and analyze your business environment and create and submit effective plans for you.
- Work with your SDF to identify the scarce and critical skills you have in your business.
- Your SDF will help you determine what skills are a priority, scarce, and critical – then identify skills gaps that currently exist and how it can be addressed in the year to come.
- Now, your SDF will compile all of this information into a structured strategy to address gaps – which is the WSP and ATR. The ATR contains all the information about the training for the previous year, while the WSP stipulates how you are moving forward using a combination of different training strategies. The WSP must also make provision for your Discretionary Grant applications that will follow, and its planning will already determine the benefits you can get from this WSP/ATR Submission.
- The hard part for you is now over – your SDF will now check that you are registered with the correct SETA, administrate any registration issues, and then complete and submit your submission.
