The B-BBEE Skills Development element is measured based on the amount of money that an entity spends on skills development programmes for Black employees. The Skills Development target spend is based on the calculation of the leviable amount and depends on how big the measured entity is as well as the sector that it falls under.
Spending under Skills Development must achieve 40% of the total points excluding bonus points for a measured entity not to drop (be discounted) a B-BBEE level on their B-BBEE Certificate.
A measured entity must identify and spend on learnerships, bursaries, internships, and informal training on Black people.
Regarding Learnerships and Internships you can claim the salary or stipend of the learner, as well as the training cost towards your spend. This will assist the company to maximize their spend under the Skills Development element of B-BBEE. Regarding bursaries- salaries can be claimed for employed learners. With informal training the skills development spend has been capped on 15%. Planned training on B-BBEE must be captured on the WSP and ATR report.
Priority skills in the SETA you fall under must be considered. Priority skills are scarce and critical skills to the sector and are key operational areas to enable Sector Education and Training Authority to operate. When a measured entity goes for B-BBEE verification a sector skills priority list is needed to check against the training that the measured entity has done, in short, we are saying Workplace skills planning and B-BBEE Skills Development planning must be aligned.
When planning your training for the year, always keep in mind that any registered learnership can award your company with employment tax incentives (ETI).
The Employment Tax Incentive is an incentive aimed at encouraging employers to hire young work seekers between the age of 18 to 29 years. These rebates are allocated per Learner and can assist you on recovering some spend.
Please note in less than six months, there will be a major shift in the South African skills development space which will have significant implications for organizations and their workforces. This is due to the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO) becoming the primary body responsible for the accreditation, implementation, assessment, and certification of occupational qualifications, part- qualifications, and skills programmes. It has been more than a decade in the making, and QCTO is a stand-alone institution who will take over its mandated functions from the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA).
According to QCTO, “the registration end date for all ‘historical’ qualifications is 30 June 2023, with a phase-out period of one year for learners to still enrol up to and including 30 June 2024”, after which it will be necessary to move over to occupationally directed qualifications.
Training, assessments, moderations, and achievements on these qualifications will only continue with learners registered before 30 June 2024. A teach-out period will facilitate learners enrolled before 30 June 2024 until 30 June 2027, but statements of results and certificates will no longer be issued post 30 June 2027.
If you need assistance with WSP and ATR reports due to the 30th of April aligned to your B-BBEE please contact us.
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