WSP and ATR: the Workplace Skills Plan and Annual Training Report

The Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) sets out the training an employer plans for the coming year; the Annual Training Report (ATR) reports the training it did in the year just ended. They are submitted together to the employer's SETA each year, and together they are the application for the mandatory grant.

Who submits

• Employers registered for the skills development levy (SDL): those that expect total remuneration over R500,000 in the next 12 months. The levy is 1% of total remuneration, declared on the EMP201 and paid to SARS within 7 days after the end of each month.
• Employers under the threshold, and certain public bodies, public benefit organisations and municipalities with a certificate, are exempt from the levy. Several SETAs accept a WSP and ATR from them voluntarily, mainly for access to discretionary grants.
• Employers with 50 or more employees submit the full template (Annexure 2 of the SETA Grant Regulations); employers with fewer than 50 may use a simplified form.

Deadline

• 30 April each year (SETA Grant Regulations, GN R990 of 2012, regulation 4). A SETA may extend the date by up to one month on the employer's written request.
• In 2026 merSETA and HWSETA extended to 31 May 2026: merSETA only for employers who had started their application on its system and asked by 30 April; HWSETA announced no further extension. Other SETAs set their own conditions and request dates.
• The next deadline under the regulation is 30 April 2027. Each SETA publishes its own submission window, usually opening early in the year (merSETA's 2026 window opened on 2 February).

The periods

The periods depend on the SETA. In merSETA's 2026/27 cycle the ATR covered 1 January to 31 December 2025 and the WSP 1 January to 31 December 2026. Other SETAs use other years, such as 1 April to 31 March: the SETA's notice for the cycle states them.

The levy and the grants

SETA: mandatory grant	20% of the levies the employer paid, on an approved WSP and ATR; paid quarterly
SETA: discretionary grants	49.5%, at least 80% of it on PIVOTAL programmes
SETA: administration	10%
QCTO	0.5%
National Skills Fund	20%

Mandatory grant money not claimed moves to the SETA's discretionary funds by 15 August. The 2012 regulations reduced the mandatory grant from 50% to 20%; the Labour Appeal Court set that reduction aside in 2017 (BUSA v Minister of Higher Education and Training), and SETAs continue to pay the mandatory grant at 20%.

What the WSP and ATR contain

• The workforce by occupation (OFO codes), occupational level, race, gender, age and disability.
• The ATR: the training done in the period, by intervention, with the people trained and its cost.
• The WSP: the training planned for the period, including PIVOTAL programmes (Professional, Vocational, Technical and Academic Learning) such as learnerships, internships and bursaries.
• Hard-to-fill vacancies and skills gaps, as the SETA's template asks.

The SDF and the training committee

• The Skills Development Facilitator (SDF), an employee or a contractor, prepares and submits the WSP and ATR and keeps track of levy payments and grants received.
• Employers with 50 or more employees must show consultation: SETAs ask for signed training committee minutes recording that the committee consulted on and approved the WSP and ATR.

Skills development on the B-BBEE scorecard

Under the 2019 amended Codes, skills development is a priority element with a 40% sub-minimum. Spend on learning programmes for black people targets 3.5% of the leviable amount (6 points), and bursaries for black students at higher education institutions 2.5% (4 points); informal training may count for up to 25% of the spend. The training records that feed the ATR are the same records the scorecard is measured from.

Sources

• SARS: Skills Development Levy
• SETA Grant Regulations, regulation 4
• HWSETA: mandatory grants
• merSETA: 2026/27 submission window
• Labour Appeal Court, 2017 (BUSA)

A summary for employers and practitioners, not legal advice. The regulator's and the legislation's own text govern.