Skills Development Act Overview

Skills Development Act (SDA)

• Purpose: The SDA encourages businesses to improve worker skills, address past inequalities through training, and enhance South African productivity. It aims to invest in worker education and training and encourage participation in learning programs.
• Business Impact (Advantages): Improves worker skills, addresses past imbalances, increases productivity.
• Business Impact (Disadvantages): Potential difficulty in monitoring/controlling implementation, increased paperwork costs, some training providers may not be accredited by SAQA, training needs of employees may not always be met
• Non-Compliance Actions: Providing employment services without registration, providing false information, preventing employees from participating in learnerships based on age or position.
• Penalties for Non-Compliance: Businesses that don't pay the Skills Development Levy may lose access to learnerships and grants. Labour inspectors can order businesses to cease operations for illegal practices.
• Compliance Actions: Offer skill-improvement opportunities to all employees; employees collecting SDL must register with SARS; encourage employee participation in learnerships/training; pay 1% of payroll to SARS; register with relevant Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs).
• SETA Role: Registering learnership agreements, promoting and establishing learnerships, reporting to the Director General, accrediting skills development facilitators.
• SETA Funding: Funding through service provision, government surplus funds, and public donations/grants.
• Learnerships: Structured theoretical and practical training leading to a recognized qualification, potentially including employment after the program, resulting in an NQF registered qualification. Learnerships combine structured components with practical experience.

National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) and HRDS

• NSDS: Aims to increase public sector skills for better service delivery, utilizing workplace-based skills development, and addressing low language/math skills among youth and adults.
• HRDS: Addresses skills gaps in the South African workforce, improving skills supply, developing short-term and long-term workforce skills, and increasing lifelong learning participation amongst employees.

Labour Relations Act (LRA)

• Purpose: Establishes Labour Courts and Labour Appeal Courts; promotes fair labor practices between employers and employees; allows employers to lockout as a response to lengthy strikes; promotes workplace collective bargaining.
• Business Impact (Advantages): Protects business rights in labor issues; quicker/less expensive dispute resolution; healthy employer-employee relationships; valuable workplace forums.
• Business Impact (Disadvantages): Increased labor costs due to legal strikes; employers may not get court injunctions to stop strikes; strikes result in lost production; can reduce global competitiveness.
• Non-compliance Actions: Preventing trade union membership; refusal to establish workplace forums; forcing employees to give up union membership; not allowing employees to participate in legal strikes.
• Penalties for Non-Compliance: Mandatory dispute resolution processes, potential financial costs (e.g., CCMA fees); fines for non-compliance with dispute resolution processes.
• Compliance Actions: Permitting employee unionization/activities/legal strike participation; adhering to collective agreements; establishing workplace forums; avoiding unfair dismissals.
• Employer Rights (LRA): Form bargaining councils, dismiss employees in unprotected strikes, form employer organizations, lockout in illegal strikes, refer disputes to CCMA, appeal to Labour Court.
• Employee Rights (LRA): Engage in legal strikes, participate in dispute resolution processes.

Employment Equity Act (EEA)

• Purpose: Promotes equal opportunity and fair treatment in the workplace; protects employees from discrimination based on race, gender, disability; allows employees to refer unresolved disputes to CCMA.
• Business Impact (Advantages): Encourages diversity; equal promotion opportunities; promotes equal opportunity.
• Business Impact (Disadvantages): High training costs; increased administrative burden (equity reporting every two years); difficulty finding suitable candidates to fill positions.
• Non-compliance Actions: Denying employment based on gender, race, culture; refusing to employ because of future plans (like children), refusing employment due to disability.
• Penalties for Non-Compliance: Fines for reporting failures; potential government business restrictions; prosecution in Labour Court.
• Compliance Actions: Employing individuals from specified groups; implementing employment equity plans; equal pay for equal work; preventing discriminatory appointments, promoting equal opportunities and fair treatment.