TUESDAY, 12.00NOON:
SIGNIFICANT changes to the proposed Skills Development Bill have been suggested by government to meet the objections of labour and business.
The changes, which have yet to be approved by the National Economic, Development and Labour Council (Nedlac), will give industry education and training boards greater control over training levies.
The Bill, published in September, called for a training levy of between 1% and 1,5% of payroll, but a suggested new approach to the funding of training could see employers paying less than this.
The Bill also proposed a split of 80% and 20% for industry-specific and national training funds, to be collected by the SA Revenue Service. The new proposal is that the national skills fund be supported by the fiscus and donations, rather than by the specific training levy.
Business South Africa believes the new proposals are an improvement on the original Bill, though the organisation has yet to approve the specifics.
Negotiations now hinge about the organisation of the administration to oversee the spending of training funds.
Talks between labour, business and government have been postponed until later this month, but government still hopes to table a Bill during this quarter.