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A Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) is the annual document in which an employer sets out the training it plans to give its staff over the coming year. It is submitted to the employer’s SETA together with the Annual Training Report (ATR). A training needs analysis (TNA) is done before the WSP, because the plan should be built on the skills gaps the TNA finds. The people who run this cycle can build their skills through BOTI’s train-the-trainer and skills development courses.
In short, the WSP is your training plan for the year ahead and the route to recovering part of the Skills Development Levy you already pay. This page explains what a WSP is, who needs one, what it contains, and how BOTI helps you turn that plan into training your team actually completes.
It is written for HR and L&D leads, business owners and finance managers who want training spend to build capability and support compliance. For them, the WSP is where that starts.
The business problem a WSP solves
Employers whose leviable amount (total remuneration) will exceed R500,000 over the next 12 months pay the Skills Development Levy (SDL) at 1% of that amount every month[1]. They pay it whether or not they claim any of it back. The WSP turns that levy from a pure cost into a partial refund and a planning discipline.
Without a WSP, the pattern is familiar. Training happens ad hoc, nobody claims the mandatory grant, skills development evidence for the B-BBEE scorecard is thin, and the levy is simply lost. With a WSP in place, the same business can:
- Recover part of its levy through the SETA mandatory grant. This grant pays back 20% of the levies paid when the WSP and ATR are submitted by 30 April and levy payments are up to date[2].
- Plan training deliberately against real skills gaps rather than reacting to crises.
- Support its B-BBEE skills development element, where spend is measured against 6% of the leviable amount (not 6% of payroll)[3].
- Show a credible training record that supports tenders, audits and growth.
What is a Workplace Skills Plan, in detail?
A WSP is forward-looking. It records the training your organisation intends to provide to employees in the year ahead, mapped against identified skills needs and set out in your SETA’s reporting format. Its partner is the Annual Training Report (ATR), which looks back at the training you actually delivered. Together they form the core of the SETA grant cycle:
| Document | Direction | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| WSP (Workplace Skills Plan) | Forward-looking | Plans the training you intend to deliver next year |
| ATR (Annual Training Report) | Backward-looking | Reports what you actually delivered last year |
Both are submitted to your SETA each year by 30 April[2]. They are usually prepared and submitted by your Skills Development Facilitator (SDF). You can read more about what a Skills Development Facilitator does and about the Annual Training Report.
Some people search for a “workforce skills plan”. In South African skills development, the document SETAs ask for is the Workplace Skills Plan, and the two terms usually refer to the same annual plan.
Why the training needs analysis comes before the WSP
Yes, the TNA process is conducted before the WSP process. A training needs analysis compares the skills each role requires with the skills people currently have. The gaps it finds become the planned training in the WSP. A WSP written without a TNA tends to list courses people asked for rather than the skills the business actually needs, and that makes the ATR harder to defend a year later.
A workable annual cycle looks like this:
- Training needs analysis: review job requirements, performance reviews, new systems, compliance duties and business goals. Then list the gaps by role and occupational level.
- Workplace Skills Plan: turn those gaps into planned interventions, beneficiaries, budget and timing, and submit the plan with the ATR.
- Delivery: book and run the training, keeping attendance registers, certificates and results as evidence.
- Annual Training Report: report what was actually delivered against the plan, and feed the lessons into the next TNA.
Starting the TNA early gives your SDF time to consult line managers and to prepare the submission before the deadline. Our article on the WSP submission deadline covers the timing in more detail.
Who needs a WSP?
A WSP matters most to employers who pay the Skills Development Levy and want a return on it. It is about South African businesses developing their own staff, not individual job-seekers. It is especially relevant to:
- HR and L&D managers building an annual training calendar and grant submission.
- Business owners and MDs of levy-paying SMEs who want to recover spend and strengthen their skills development record.
- Finance managers linking the SDL line on the payroll to a tangible benefit.
- Skills Development Facilitators (SDFs) compiling and submitting the WSP and ATR.
If your organisation pays SDL, a WSP is the practical route to making some of that money work for you. Smaller employers below the levy threshold do not pay SDL, but the same planning discipline still helps them spend their training budget well.
Need help turning your WSP into delivered training? Phone 011 882 8853 or use the BOTI contact form. You can also ask BOTI to help you work through a training needs analysis so that you can map your skills gaps before you plan.
What a Workplace Skills Plan covers
The template varies by SETA, but a credible WSP generally addresses these building blocks:
- Company profile and levy details: your organisation, SDL number, headcount and demographic breakdown.
- Skills gap analysis: the gap between the competencies your business needs and what your people currently have, informed by a training needs analysis.
- Planned training interventions: the courses, programmes and learnerships you intend to run. Choose accredited options where formal recognition matters.
- Beneficiary breakdown: who will be trained, by occupational level, race, gender and disability status. This also feeds your B-BBEE skills development reporting.
- Alignment to priority skills: how your plan supports your SETA’s priority skills and the National Skills Development Plan.
- Budget and timelines: what you plan to spend and when each intervention will run.
A strong WSP is not paperwork done in isolation. It flows from a genuine skills audit and leads to the training you then book and deliver. That is where BOTI fits.
How BOTI supports your WSP
BOTI does not replace your SDF or your SETA, but it makes the delivery side of your WSP straightforward. Once your plan identifies the skills your team needs, BOTI turns it into completed, reportable development:
- Accredited routes: BOTI is a QCTO-accredited Skills Development Provider. It offers QCTO occupational certificates and skills programmes, and legacy SETA qualifications that are still open to enrolment. You can browse them in the accredited course catalogue.
- Practical short courses: non-accredited professional skills programmes for fast, practical capability where formal credits are not the priority.
- Documented delivery: attendance registers, outcomes and certificates your SDF can report cleanly against the plan.
With 333 courses across management, finance, HR, sales, compliance and technical skills, BOTI helps you fill the planned-interventions section of your WSP with real, deliverable programmes rather than placeholders. Choose an accredited route where credit or compliance is the point. Where fast capability is the point, a practical short course may suit better.
Delivery formats
How training is delivered affects both cost and completion. BOTI delivers in the format that suits your operation:
- In-house at your premises: usually the most cost-effective option for a team, with the strongest transfer back to the job.
- At BOTI’s venue in Sunningdale, Johannesburg: suitable for individual staff members or small groups.
- Live online instructor-led sessions: efficient for teams across several sites.
The cost per delegate falls as group size grows. For that reason, in-house corporate training is usually the most economical way to deliver the volume a WSP commits to. How each intervention is categorised for SETA and B-BBEE reporting depends on the type of programme. Confirm this with your SDF, your SETA or your B-BBEE verification professional before you finalise the plan.
Funding: the skills development budget and B-BBEE
This is where the WSP pays for itself. As general guidance:
- The levy: the Skills Development Levy is 1% of the leviable amount[1]. Of the levy, 49.5% goes to SETA discretionary grants, 20% to mandatory grants, 10% to SETA administration, 0.5% to the QCTO and 20% to the National Skills Fund[2].
- The mandatory grant: this is 20% of the levies you paid, returned when the WSP and ATR are submitted by 30 April and your levies are up to date. Mandatory grant money that is not claimed moves to discretionary funding by 15 August[2].
- Discretionary grants: SETAs may also fund priority programmes, such as learnerships, through discretionary grants. These follow each SETA’s own criteria and funding windows.
- B-BBEE skills development: under the amended generic Codes, the overall target is 6% of the leviable amount. That is made up of 3.5% on learning programmes for black people and 2.5% on bursaries for black students at higher education institutions, plus a further 0.3% for black employees with disabilities[3]. Sector codes may set different targets.
WSP training can therefore do double duty: it builds team capability and recovers part of your levy, while supporting your skills development evidence. The scorecard outcome depends on verification, so no points can be guaranteed.
On tenders, public procurement still runs under the PFMA, the MFMA, the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (PPPFA) and the Preferential Procurement Regulations, 2022. These regulations allow organs of state to score “specific goals”. The Public Procurement Act 28 of 2024 never came into force, and on 17 September 2026 the Constitutional Court declared the whole Act invalid[4]. Parliament may pass a new procurement law in future.
This is general information, not financial or legal advice. Confirm the specifics with your SETA, SDF or B-BBEE verification professional.
Why BOTI
BOTI (Business Optimization Training Institute) is a QCTO-accredited Skills Development Provider and a Level 1 B-BBEE contributor, with 333 courses and a client base that includes Sasol, Glencore and the City of Johannesburg. A WSP rarely sits alone, and most clients pair it with related programmes:
- Skills Development Facilitator (SDF) Training Course: for the person who compiles your TNA, WSP and ATR.
- Management and Leadership Development Training: develops the managers who own your skills gaps.
- The full BOTI course range: sales, management, finance, HR and compliance training.
- Request a quote or booking: a tailored price for the training in your plan.
Unsure which courses fit your WSP? BOTI can map a learning path to your skills gaps, compliance needs and budget.
Need help delivering the training in your Workplace Skills Plan? Explore BOTI’s accredited qualifications and skills programmes or request a quote. BOTI is rated 4.8 from 770+ Google reviews.
Frequently asked questions
What does WSP mean in business?
In South African business, WSP stands for Workplace Skills Plan. It is the annual document in which an employer sets out the training it plans to give its staff in the coming year. It is submitted to the employer’s SETA together with the Annual Training Report and serves as the organisation’s training plan for the year.
Is the TNA process conducted prior to the WSP process?
Yes. The training needs analysis comes first. It identifies the gap between the skills each role requires and the skills people currently have. Those gaps then become the planned training interventions in the Workplace Skills Plan.
What is the difference between a WSP and an ATR?
The WSP (Workplace Skills Plan) is forward-looking and plans the training you intend to deliver next year. The ATR (Annual Training Report) is backward-looking and reports what you actually delivered last year. They are submitted together to your SETA each year, and on-time submission is a condition for the mandatory grant.
How does a WSP help with funding and B-BBEE?
Levy-paying employers that submit their WSP and ATR on time, with levy payments up to date, can recover part of the Skills Development Levy through the mandatory grant. They may also apply for discretionary grants. The planned training supports your B-BBEE skills development element, which is measured against the leviable amount rather than payroll, but no scorecard points are guaranteed. This is general guidance, not financial advice.
Can BOTI deliver the training in our Workplace Skills Plan?
Yes. Once your WSP identifies the skills your team needs, BOTI provides accredited routes and practical short courses to deliver it. Training runs in-house at your premises, at BOTI’s venue in Sunningdale, Johannesburg, or live online. BOTI documents attendance and outcomes so that your SDF can report cleanly. Call 011 882 8853 for a quote.
Turn your Workplace Skills Plan into delivered training
A WSP is only as valuable as the training that follows it. The person who runs your TNA, WSP and ATR can build the skills for the role on BOTI’s Skills Development Facilitator (SDF) Training Course. Call BOTI on 011 882 8853 or email [email protected]. You can also request a quote. Training runs in-house at your premises, at BOTI’s venue in Sunningdale, Johannesburg, or live online. This course is not accredited. It is delivered as a professional skills programme, and delegates receive a BOTI certificate of attendance.
Sources
- Skills Development Levy – South African Revenue Service (SARS), 2026.
- Mandatory Grants – Health and Welfare SETA (HWSETA), 2026.
- Codes of Good Practice on B-BBEE: Code Series 300, Statement 300 – Skills Development (Government Gazette 42496) – Department of Trade and Industry, 31 May 2019.
- Godongwana notes Constitutional Court judgment on Public Procurement Act – SAnews (South African Government News Agency), 18 September 2026.