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Written By: Lia Marus

The deadline for the submission of your workplace skills plan and annual training report is around the corner. If you want to claim 20% of your Skills Development Levy (SDL) back from your Sector Education Training Authority (Seta), you need to get started with your WSP. But before you even think about doing this, you will have to have appointed a skills development facilitator.

Who could you appoint as your skills development facilitator?

Your company’s skills development facilitator (SDF) can be either:

One of your employees;
An external person who you have formally contracted to take on this position; or
A person who you, together with a number of other employers, employ to assess the group’s skills development needs.

Your SDF will act as a liaison between your company and your Seta.

5 Responsibilities of an SDF

Your Skills Development Facilitator must:

1.   Liaise with your Seta;
2.   Develop quality-assurance systems in your company;
3.   Develop, submit and implement your company’s workplace skills plan;
4.   Draft an implementation report against a workplace skills plan; and
5.   Tell you what your Seta’s quality assurance requirements are.

How can you register as an SDF?

Each Seta has their own process for registering SDFs, e.g. filling in forms and sending these back to the relevant Seta, filling out online applications, etc.

Here are forms from 10 different Setas which you will need to fill in to register an SDF:

1. Energy and Water
2.   Finance, Accounting, Management Consulting and other Financial Services
3.   Food and Beverages
4.   Health and Welfare
5.   Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services
6.   Safety and Security
7.   Wholesale and Retail
8.   Information Systems
9. Insurance
10. Transport

Lia Marus is the editor of HR Pulse. She has a BA in French, Italian and Linguistics from UCT, an MA in translation from Wits and a Postgraduate Diploma in Management from the Wits Business School. She is currently studying towards her LLB through Unisa. Lia started her career off in corporate communications, where she worked as a sub-editor, researcher and marketing coordinator. She then heeded the call of the publishing world and went into the business-to-business publishing field. She worked as a sub-editor as well as a chief sub-editor. Before joining ITWeb, she managed an HR guidebook at a leading international publishing company.

Article sourced from: http://www.hrpulse.co.za/

A Skills Development Facilitator (SDF) is an individual nominated by the organisation to serve as a liaison between the Seta and the company. This individual will be added as the contact person on the Fasset database and he/she will be provided with access to the Fasset online system which will enable them to monitor grant submissions and levies.

The Role of the SDF

The SDF’s role will require him or her to:

Assist the employer and employees to develop a Workplace Skills Plan which complies with the requirements of the Seta
Submit the Workplace Skills Plan to the relevant Seta
Advise the employer on the implementation of the Workplace Skills Plan
Assist the employer to draft an Annual Training Report on the implementation of the Workplace Skills Plan
Advise the employer on the quality assurance requirements set by the Seta
Act as a contact person between the employer and the sector Seta
Serve as a resource with regard to all aspects of skills development
Communicate Seta initiatives, grants and benefits to the employer
Communicate with branch offices, and all employees in the main office and branch offices, concerning events and grants being offered at the Seta
The employer must provide the Skills Development Facilitator with the resources, facilities and training necessary to perform the functions set out.

The SDF will receive all invitations to Fasset events and benefits, information about Fasset, grant reminders, quarterly newsletters and monthly electronic newsletters. Failure to pass or act on Fasset information, or refer information to the correct person/s in your organisation, may result in financial loss to your organisation. For example, invitations to FREE Fasset training events are open to all staff, not only to the SDF. More than one staff member may attend from each organisation and it is your obligation to ensure that employees within the company/ies you represent have an opportunity to attend these interventions.

Certain SDFs external to the organisation they represent, or working in a private SDF company may represent a number of employers, and thus have an even greater obligation to ensure that these employers utilize these Fasset benefits.

SDFs that do not perform their duties must be accountable to their employers. Fasset will not give leeway to employers claiming compensation or lenience in terms of grant deadlines missed, or information not passed on to them by their SDF.

Lastly, SDFs who have not furnished Fasset with email addresses and fax numbers are missing out on information and invitations that are sent to employers via means other than ‘snail mail’. Kindly contact the Fasset call centre on 086 101 0001 orfassetcallcentre@fasset.org.za in order to update your details.

Secondary Skills Development Facilitator

The status of Secondary SDF has been introduced by Fasset to allow for more than one person to have access to the employer’s information on the Seta Management System (SMS). The Secondary SDF is someone appointed by the SDF of an organisation. An example is a finance manager, who works for an organisation, and requires view access to the grant and levy details. The role of the Secondary SDF is similar to that of the conventional (primary) SDF. Similar system privileges on the electronic Seta Management System (SMS) are allocated, except the Secondary SDF has view access to an organisation’s information.

How much can an SDF expect to earn?

According to PayScale, the median salary of an SDF, as collected from the National Salary Date is R154 429.00 per annum.

Community of Experts

i-Fundi will be hosting the next Community of Experts workshop which aims to explore the challenges, internal strategies, management processes and technology solutions for companies to support SDF’s in streamlining skills development compliance. The Community of Experts Series addresses topics of common interest to practitioners of various professional communities. Facilitated by industry and subject matter experts, these events expose participants to new ideas as presented by a guest speaker and allow a forum for the participants to learn and share their experiences.

If you would like to participate in the upcoming CoE, rsvp with reggie@i-funi.com, or call us on 011 290 5900.

Programme Details

Date: Friday, 26 February

Time: 10h00 – 12h00

Venue: i-Fundi: 1st Floor, Regenesys Campus,

4 Pybus Road, Sandton

Cost: Free

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sdf

How to Register As A Skills Development Facilitator

Who could you appoint as your skills development facilitator?

5 Responsibilities of an SDF

How can you register as an SDF?

Are you interested in a career as a Skills Development Facilitator?