Occupational Skills Programme: Workplace Essential Skills – SP-211009

Employees who understand the employment relationship, work safely and ethically, and contribute as team members – shown on the job, with a QCTO certificate at NQF Level 4.

Some skills sit underneath performance in every role: understanding what the employer expects and what the employee is owed, communicating clearly, working in a team, keeping the workplace safe and behaving professionally. This QCTO-accredited workplace essential skills course – the Occupational Skills Programme: Workplace Essential Skills (SP-211009, NQF Level 4, 20 credits) – builds those core competencies. It suits induction, general staff development and learnership support.

The QCTO programme document describes these as skills for work, learning and life: they apply in every industry and at every level, form the foundation for learning other skills, and help employees adapt to change at work. Learners cover the employment relationship from both sides – responsibilities, the employment contract, workplace policies, health and safety law, and work ethics, norms and values – and practise communication, teamwork, meetings and organising their own work.

The programme is practical by design. After five contact days, learners carry out workplace tasks and a team project at the employer for two to four weeks, and BOTI's assessor observes them there for the final assessment.

Why this course

What delegates will be able to do

• Identify the responsibilities of employer and employee in the workplace
• Analyse an employment contract and a workplace policy or guideline
• Identify the health, safety and legal provisions that apply to your work
• Understand and apply work ethics, norms and values
• Communicate clearly in speaking and writing, across levels and departments
• Work as a team member and handle disagreement constructively
• Participate in and contribute to workplace meetings
• Organise and prioritise your own work and solve everyday problems
• Perform tasks across a range of critical workplace competencies

Who should attend

General and entry-level staff, new employees going through induction, and learnership candidates. The QCTO document names employed and unemployed South Africans as typical learners, including people employed now or before in low-skilled occupations, and notes that it was designed to support apprentices who struggle in a company environment. Entry: NQF Level 1, or access through recognition of prior learning (RPL). Every learner needs a host workplace for the workplace period – their own employer or one that agrees to take them.

Course outline

How it is delivered

Five contact days, 08:30-16:00, which can run consecutively, followed by two to four weeks of workplace tasks at the employer, observed by BOTI's assessor for the final assessment. Every learner therefore needs a host workplace. The contact days run at your offices anywhere in South Africa, at BOTI's venue in Sunningdale, Johannesburg, or live online, for one learner or a group of up to about 20. Learner material is provided.

Frequently asked questions