In light of the Building and Maintaining a Team event being so popular, Fasset is currently scheduling additional venues, where the demand warrants. We would like to encourage delegates to add themselves to the venue specific waiting list.

Fasset invites registered members to join us in a one day workshop on Building and Maintaining a Team. You will learn about teams, team dynamics and how to motivate and lead a team. The workshop will also cover team recognition, team membership behaviours of individuals in a team, pitfalls, dealing with toxic teams and individuals, as well as creating passion in teams.

This workshop is intended as an intermediate to advanced event for managers who wish to gain insight into the micro management of their teams. Human resources and training professionals will also find this workshop informative in understanding the issue of management and leadership. Participants will be provided with information on a broad range of issues.

Click here for date and venue details and to register your attendance on-line. Registration for the first event closes on 22 July 2010, thereafter, 10 working days before the commencement of each workshop.

Fasset is currently engaged in the revision of financial and related occupations included in the Organising Framework for Occupations (OFO). The OFO is an occupational classification system that is used by the Department of Higher Education and Training for the identification and monitoring of skills shortages in the country. It will form the basis for the new qualifications that will be registered under the recently established Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO).

Click here to download the form.

Fasset has received recent notification from the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) of proposed changes to the Seta landscape and the release of a National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS). The proposed NSDS for the third period, 2011 to 2016, will govern the content of the Sector Skills Plan (SSP), goals and success indicators of the Seta and the Seta funding framework. In order to ensure that the Fasset Seta devises a SSP which represents the interests and needs of the sector, Fasset will be embarking on a sector-wide consultation process which will include a short research survey coordinated by Fasset’s outsourced research partner, EE Research Focus. We would appreciate your participation in this short electronic research study which specific sampled employers have received directly to their email addresses. The survey will be handled by EE Research Focus. Replies will go directly to them and they will consolidate the information for inclusion in the SSP.

Please make sure your reply to the email request is addressed to fasset@researchfocus.co.za

The NSA has reached an advance stage in arriving at its recommendation to the Minister of Higher Education and Training on a possible NSDS III strategy. The NSA would like to hear your comments and inputs before they finalise their recommendations to the Minister by the end of JULY 2010. Please click here for more information.

Fasset requires the services of one or more suitably qualified service providers who are located in South Africa to provide a Work Readiness Programme(s); aimed at School leavers, Matriculants, Diplomates, Graduates and or Post Graduates (preferably Commerce); on any NQF level, or on a combination of two or more levels; that will lead to: placement in employment / on learnerships / internships and/or to the completion of a whole qualification. Ideally, the programme must start by 01 January 2011 and be conducted and ideally completed by 31 March 2012. Click here for more information.

The Fasset office hours in the week leading up to, and including, 30 June are as follows:

• Monday to Thursday: 08h00 – 16h30
• Friday: 08h00 – 16h00

The Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Blade Nzimande, released a media statement on 29 April 2010 outlining the proposed new Seta landscape and NSDS III. All Setas and Seta stakeholders have been given the opportunity to participate in the process of finalising the proposed landscape and NSDS III. Fasset will be facilitating input from our sector so that we can make the necessary submissions to the Department of Higher Education and Training by the necessary deadline dates. Click here for more information.

The Learnership Cash Grant (LCG) forms for 2010/2011 are available. The LCG is directed at small employers (less than 150 employees) who have taken a learner on a Fasset learnership for the period 1 January -31 December 2010. The grant is only available for black (black, Indian, coloured) learners, or learners with a disability (regardless of race).

For more information, Click here .

The new Assessor/ Moderator grant application is available. In order to support and uphold quality standards in education and training, Fasset has in the past offered support and training to assessors and moderators registered against qualifications in the Seta’s education and training scope such as assessor and moderator training sessions and networking events. In this year the Seta has elected to offer a grant to an individual who has undertaken training to become registered as an assessor and / or moderator if the training has been conducted between 1 January and 31 December 2010. The grant is available for claim from 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011.

The grant will cover the costs of training and assessment of individual/s against the following unit standards which will allow them to successfully register with the Seta as an assessor or moderator for unit standards and qualifications within the Fasset Education and Training Quality Assurance (ETQA) scope:

- Design and Develop Assessment Guides (ASSMT 04)
- Plan and Conduct the Assessment of Learning Outcomes (ASSMT 01)
- Moderate Assessment (ASSMT 02)
- Facilitate the Preparation and Presentation of Assessment Evidence by Candidates (ASSMT 05).
- Conduct Moderation of Outcomes-Based Assessments (115759)
- Facilitate the Preparation and Presentation of Moderation Evidence by Candidates (ASSMT 05)

For further details Click here .

The Strategic Cash Grant (SCG) application for 2010/2011 is now available. The form has introduced two new areas that organisations can claim against: 1) Quality-assured and structured workplace experience where specific learners enter full-time, on-the-job training (non-learnership) and, 2) Certification of the organisation against a national standard for people development (i.e. a business improvement tool designed to advance an organisation's performance through its people).

Click here for the grant criteria and application form.

The Pilot SMME Grant is now available. The grant is due on 31 March 2011 and will operate on a first-come first-served basis. This Pilot SMME Grant is new to the Seta and is based on the need to support Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) who do not traditionally participate in learnerships. The amount of the grant will be limited to R 11,000 per five employees employed in the SMME organisation. Any spent amount over the designated amount will be for the organisation’s own account. Should the expense be lower than the grant amount provided for, the Seta will reimburse the lesser amount. Applicants must be SMMEs (i.e. employ fewer than 50 people).

Click here for the grant application and criteria.

Please note that the SETAs move from the Department of Labour (DoL) to the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) officially took place on 1 November 2009.

The Mandatory Grant (combined Work Place Skills Plan (WSP) and Annual Training Report (ATR)) application forms for 2010/2011 are now available. Organisations employing less than 50 employees can complete the 50- application form and companies employing more than 50 employees can complete the 50+ application form. Click here for the documents.

Click here for the latest update information on the developments within the Seta environment.

Employers can fluctuate between being levy paying and non-levy paying with the Seta depending on their projected annual payroll in that month. If above R500K pr annum, the employer is required to pay SDL, if below R500K the employer is defined as exempt and may not pay the SDL. When the employer pays above R500K, the employer becomes levy paying and may (if timeous) claim their SDL in the form of a Mandatory Grant.

However regardless of when they start to pay the SDL, if they do not submit a Mandatory Grant by 30 June, they may not claim the grant late. The penalty for late submission of the Mandatory Grant (i.e. after 30 June) for a SDL paying employer is losing the grant in full. The only exception to this late submission rule is if an employer is newly registered in terms for the SDL and submits their grant within 6 months of registering for the SDL.

An employer is not considered to be a ‘new employer’ (who has 6 months to submit the SDL) if they have fluctuated from being exempt from paying the SDL to being an SDL payer.

If an employer has not submitted a Mandatory Grant by the deadline date of 30 June, Fasset does not allow them to claim the Mandatory Grant as they are considered to be submitting late. And they are further excluded from claiming a discretionary grant such as, the Learnership Cash Grant (a cash grant amount when an employer employs a black and/or disabled learner) and a Strategic Cash Grant (a maximum of 20% of the SDL).

Should a company fall below the R 500 000 threshold in terms of the legislation and has elected to pay the SDL to Fasset as well as submit the Mandatory grant (which has been approved), Fasset will withhold the 50% SDL.

The practice of late is for Fasset to withhold payment as their have been many cases where the 50% SDL has been paid to the employer by Fasset and SARS identifies the company as exempt and then refunds the 100% SDL to the employer, in which case Fasset becomes liable for the 50% levies to SARS.

In terms of the legislation companies cannot voluntarily pay SDL if they are exempt. Should you have voluntarily contributed SDL, please contact SARS for a refund of these levies.

If the employer can provide proof that the company does in fact fall above the R 500 000 threshold, Fasset will then release these monies.

Click here for more information.

Click here for more information.

The Minister of Finance, Trevor Manuel's, Budget Speech can be perused here.

It is commonly agreed that people need certain skills in order to become “employable”. By employing a candidate who is “work ready”, employers have peace of mind that the individual will more successfully make the transition to work and, therefore, to learn job-specific technical skills. Fasset has initiated several work readiness programs as part of its Development Projects in order to facilitate skills development.

The primary purpose of this project is to effectively deal with the issues of employment equity and transformation within the Fasset sector. To read more about projects click here.

Winners of Fasset’s Making Best Practice Count Awards were announced at Fasset’s Annual Function on 17 September 2008. Congratulations to the winners:

1. Best Practice in a Large Employer Category: Ernst & Young.
2. Best Practice in a Medium-sized Employer: Silica Financial Administration.

Click through to Best Practice Awards for more details.

The Budget Vote Speech given by the Minister of Labour, MMS Mdladlana at Cape Town, Parliament on 15 May 2008 is available here.

Click through to Press Releases for an array of informative as well as ‘feel good’ stories regarding our Development Projects.