Workplace Skills Planning and Reporting
Complying with Workplace Skills Planning and Reporting helps your organisation recover a portion of its Skills Development Levy, improve employee skills, meet legislative requirements, support business growth, and access additional SETA funding opportunities.
Key Benefits of Submitting Your Mandatory Grant (WSP/ATR)
Summary for Employers: Submitting your WSP and ATR converts your mandatory 1% SDL tax into direct financial refunds, higher B-BBEE levels, and major funding opportunities for business growth.
1. Direct Financial Return (20% Levy Recovery)
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Recover Your Cash: Qualifying employers automatically claim back 20% of their total Skills Development Levy (SDL) paid to SARS during the financial year.
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Guaranteed Payout: Unlike competitive funding, Mandatory Grants are guaranteed to all levy-paying employers who meet the deadline and compliance criteria.
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Quarterly Reimbursements: Once approved, funds are paid directly back to your business in quarterly disbursements.
2. Unlocks Access to Discretionary Grants
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Submitting your WSP and ATR is the strict prerequisite for applying for SETA Discretionary Grant funding.
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Unlocks additional, substantial funding (up to 49.5% of sectoral levy pools) to cover fully-funded learnerships, apprenticeships, bursaries, and internships.
3. Boosts B-BBEE Scorecard Points
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Skills Development Points: An approved WSP/ATR submission is mandatory to earn points under the Skills Development element of your B-BBEE Scorecard.
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Avoid Non-Compliance Penalties: Missing the SETA submission deadline can result in zero points for the entire Skills Development category, severely dropping your overall B-BBEE level.
4. Strategic Workforce Development & Productivity
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Address Skills Gaps: The WSP forces a structured review of operational training needs, ensuring training budgets target critical skills shortages.
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Higher Employee Retention: Investing systematically in your staff increases staff morale, job satisfaction, and operational productivity.
Eligible Training Types
Submitting your Annual Training Report (ATR) and Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) allows your organization to recover 20% of paid Skills Development Levies (SDL). Unlike discretionary grants, Mandatory Grants cover a wide range of documented workplace training:
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Accredited Qualifications (PIVOTAL): Learnerships, apprenticeships, internships, bursaries, and NQF-aligned short courses.
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Non-Accredited & Internal Training: Vendor courses, technical SOPs, industry conferences, and CPD seminars.
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Statutory & Compliance: Occupational Health & Safety (OHS), First Aid, Firefighting, and POPIA or regulatory updates.
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Soft Skills & Leadership: Management development, customer service, communication, and formal mentorship.
What You Need to Retain
To secure your claim, ensure you keep signed attendance registers, proof of cost/invoices, certificates, and provider details on file for all reported training.
Manager Implementation Guide & Appendices
Your step-by-step operational playbook. It guides HR managers, line managers, or internal Skills Development Facilitators (SDFs) through the complete annual compliance cycle:
Phase 1: Establishing the Training Committee Set up a legally compliant committee structure, manage union consultations, and ensure demographic representation aligns with Employment Equity goals.
Phase 2: Conducting a True Training Needs Analysis (TNA) Identify genuine organizational skill gaps and prioritize Critical and Scarce Skills beyond employee wish‑lists.
Phase 3: Compiling the Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) Document planned training accurately, linking roles to the correct Organizing Framework for Occupations (OFO) codes.
Phase 4: Tracking & Reporting the Annual Training Report (ATR) Maintain a complete audit trail of training activities, expenditures, and variances to secure the 20% Skills Development Levy rebate.
