Learnership Cash Grant (LCG) Guidelines 2014/2015

Learnership Cash Grant (LCG) Guidelines 2014/2015

For the Period 1 January to 31 December 2014

INTRODUCTION

Fasset is offeringaLearnership Cash Grant (LCG) to employers who employ African Blacklearners and learners with a disability on learnerships in the Fasset sector. The grant may be claimed for learners who have either entered a learnership programmes (Entry) or learners who have successfully completed a learnership (Exit).

The table below indicates the tariffs available for the Entry and Exitportion of the grant. The grant amounts differ, depending on the educational level of the learnership. Fasset does not fund learners who take longer than the registered period of a learnership to reach competence. For example, the CA learnership is registered with DHET as a 3-year learnership.Should a particular learner take 4 years to complete the learnership, Fasset will only pay the tariff stipulated for a 3-year learnership.The Seta will not pay an amount for each year the learner is registered on the learnership.

For the employment of African Blacklearners, the Entry and the Exit granttariffs are:

For the employment of learners with a disability, the grant is increased as follows:

One LCG application must be completed per learner.

A maximum of 20 approved grants will be allowed per employer. This includes any combination of Entry andExitgrants adding up to 20 grants per employer.

CHANGES FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR’S GRANT

• The due date for all discretionary grants is Sunday 15 February 2015; however grants must be delivered to Fasset by close of business (16h00) on Friday 13 February 2015. Alternatively, employers may fax or email the document to Fasset to reach the office by 15 February 2015, but no hand deliveries will be received on the weekend.
• Should an employer wish to add a learnership to the list of funded learnerships via this grant, they must make a written motivation to the Skills Planning department who will direct this request to the appropriate department in Fasset.
• Available to African Black learners and people with disabilities. This is due to the over-representation of White and Indian learners, and the appropriate representation of Coloured learners in employment in the Fasset sector as compared with the national population statistics. For this reason most discretionary funding (with the exception of the Assessor and Moderator Grant and Lifelong Learning) is to be directed into the grouping required for a demographic balance in the Fasset sector to be achieved and the goals of the Employment Act (1999) are supported.
• The value of the tariffs against which the total value of grant claims are calculated have changed. Please refer to the updated tariffs on the grant application form.
• The tariffs to be awarded for this grant have changed. The Entry and Exit portion of the grant are dependent on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) level of the learnership.
• Impact questions have been included in the grant application form.
• Grant applications may be submitted from 1 April 2014.

CRITERIA FOR GRANT APPROVAL

• The grant applications must be submitted to Fasset by no later than the deadline date in respect of African Black learners and learners with a disability commencingor completinga Fasset learnership in the period 1 January to 31 December 2014.
• Learner commencement or completion will be determined by the registered learner being recorded on the Fasset database as commenced or completed.
• The date of commencement of the learnership programme will be the date completed on the learnership agreement, which will also be reflected on the confirmation letter.
• Employers will need to ensure that the professional body has provided learner data to Fasset (if applicable) and that it is reflecting on the Fasset database, before they submit their application, otherwise the grant application will be rejected and the employer will be required to reapply.
• The Mandatory Grant for the period 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015 must be submitted and have been approved by Fasset for SDL-paying employers only. The deadline for this grant is 30 April 2014. Failure to submit the Mandatory Grant on time disqualifies the SDL-paying employer from applying for any discretionary grants (including the LCG and the Pivotal Grant) during the financial year.Employers who are exempt from paying the SDL (i.e. Non Levy Payers (NLP)) are not required to submit the Mandatory Grant but must register with Fasset as an NLP.
• A Seta may not pay any grant to an employer who is liable to pay the SDL in terms of section 3(1) of the SDL Act unless the employer: has registered with the Commissioner in terms of the SDL Act, has paid the levies directly to the South African Revenue Services (SARS) in the manner and within the period determined in the SDL Act, is up-to-date with levy payments to SARS at the time of approval and in respect of the application period, has submitted a Mandatory Grant in respect of the previous financial year within the timeframes prescribed, and is registered with Fasset.
• Employers may apply for grantsfor learners on ALL Fasset registered learnerships and other Seta learnerships that have been approved for the LCG. A list of these learnerships is available on the Fasset website (
• Only employers employing fewer than 150 employees are eligible for the grant.
• NLPs must be registered on the Fassetdatabase before a LCG is paid. Relevant forms are available on the Fasset website ( and may be submitted as part of this LCG application.
• The SDF submitting this application must be registered as an SDF with Fasset. Relevant forms are available on the Fasset website (
• ‘Double-dipping’ on the same learner is prohibited i.e. employers may not apply for an Entry or Exit LCG on the same learner more than once. However, Exit LCGs may be applied for, for learners who had previously received the EntryLCG.
• A maximum of 20 approved grants will be allowed per employer. This includes any combination of EntryandExitgrants adding up to 20 grants per employer.
• No requests for extension will be considered on this grant. Late grants will not be considered.
• Applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis as of 1 April 2014, due to a limit on the funding. Completed grant applicationswill be processed in the order in which they are received.
• Grant processing may take up to 3 months from the date of receipt of the application.Thereafter the request for payment of an approved grant will be sent to the Seta finance department.Should all be in order with the applicant’s banking details, the grant will be paid out two to three weeks thereafter.

DEADLINE DATE AND MODE OF GRANT SUBMISSION

• Where the grant deadline date falls on a weekend or public holiday, the deadline moves to the last working day before the deadline date.
• The due date for all discretionary grants is Sunday 15 February 2015, however grants must be delivered to Fasset by close of business (16h00) on Friday 13 February 2015. Alternatively, employers may fax or email the document to Fasset to reach the office by 15 February 2015, but no hand deliveries will be received.
• Fasset offices close at 16h30 from Monday to Thursday, and at 16h00 on Friday. There is no ‘drop-box’ on Fasset’s premises or means of delivering the physical document after office closure. The application may however be faxed or emailed to the Seta before the deadline date. Please be aware that those delivering the document may not have access to alternative fax and email facilities, and the submission will be deemed late if is received / delivered after the deadline date.
• In the case of hand delivery or courier, it is the applicant’s obligation to ensure the document is submitted to the correct physical/postal address and physical proof (delivery note of sending the specified document via hand delivery or courier) is retained. The Seta physical address is Building 3, Ground Floor, 299 Pendoring Road, Blackheath, Johannesburg. Please be aware that those delivering the document may not have access to alternative fax and email facilities, and the submission will be deemed late if is received / delivered after the deadline date.
• In the case of fax submission to the Seta, it is the applicant’s obligation to ensure that the application is submitted to the Seta via the correct fax number and that a copy of the confirmation slip, with the correct number of pages transmitted, is retained for later use/proof. An original signed document must also be submitted. The only and correct fax number is 086 574 1962.
• In the case of email submission to the Seta, it is the applicant’s obligation to ensure that the application is submitted to the Seta via the correct email address and that a copy of the sent email is kept, and is retained for later use/proof. The only and correct email address is
• Postal submissions received at Fasset offices after the deadline date, will not be accepted for assessment.

COMPLETION GUIDELINES AND OTHER INFORMATION

• The grant must be completed correctly and submitted to the Skills Planning Department.
• The SDF and the relevant Authorised Signatory must sign each page of the grant application form. Names may not be typed in this space, signatures must be manually completed.
• An employer may apply for the grant at different times of the year, for different learners.
• Only submit proof of banking details if you have NOT submitted banking details before or if your banking details have changed since your last submission of banking details information.
• A copy of the grant application must be kept by the applicant.
• A certificate indicating the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) level of the organisationis requested (where applicable). Ensure the SDL number of the organisation is reflected on the BEE certificate.
• Problems with professional body registrations should be brought to the attention of Fasset immediately, so that the Seta may intervene on the employer’s behalf, if applicable.
• Fasset reserves the right to conduct monitoring visits to employers who have received the LCG.

DEFINITION OF AFRICAN BLACK

• Only African Black South Africans with a valid South African identity document may apply for the grant.
• All African Black South Africans born before 1994, African Black people born after 1994, as well as African Black people with a South African parents who is a returning exile, qualify as African Black.

South African born children of African Black people coming to South Africa after 1994.

• A person who was naturalised as an African Black South African citizen prior to the commencement date of the Constitution.
• A person from other another part of the world, who was not naturalised before1994, or did not have South African parents will not qualify as an African Black person. For example, a black person from another part of African who marries a South African and becomes a citizen by naturalization, will not be applicable for this grant.
• Fasset reserves the right to query the population group status of an applicant and request additional information. Evidence such as the birth certificate of that person and/or a birth certificate of the persons' parent may be required and BEE verification agencies may be consulted in this regard.

DEFINITION OF A PERSON WITH A DISABILITY

• Employers may apply for this grant on learners with disabilities.
• Specific reference to the Guide on the Determination of Medical Tax Credits and Allowances (Issue 4) in terms of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 is used to guide the specific definition of disability, in terms of this grant application.
• When applying for this grant for a person with a disability, the latest Section C of form ITR-DD i.e. Confirmation of Diagnosis of Disability (To determine eligibility under section 18(2)(b) of the Income Tax Act, 1962 (as amended))) must be included.
• Fasset reserves the right to query disability status and request additional information. BEE verification agencies may be consulted in this regard.

9.3 Prescribed diagnostic criteria for a disability

For each of the impairments in the definition of a “disability” in section 18, the Commissioner has prescribed diagnostic criteria. These criteria seek to assess the functional impact of the impairment on a person’s ability to perform daily activities and not the diagnosis of a medical condition. These criteria are discussed below:

9.3.1 Vision

The minimum requirement for a person to be classified as a blind person is –

­visual acuity in the better eye with best possible correction, less than 6/18 (0.3); and

­visual field 10 degrees or less around central fixation.

“6/18” means that what a person with normal vision can read at 18 metres, the person being tested can only read at 6 metres.

“Best possible correction” refers to the position after a person’s vision has been corrected by means of spectacles, contact lenses or intraocular (implanted) lenses.

9.3.2 Communication

A person is regarded as having a moderate to severe communication disability if, despite appropriate therapy, medication and/or suitable devices, one or more life activities (as listed below, pending age appropriateness), is substantially limited, that is, more than merely inconvenient or bothersome. In other words, if one or more of the following apply, the individual will be regarded as suffering from a moderate to severe communication disability:

­Inability to make self-understood to familiar communication partners using speech in a quiet setting.

­Inability to make self-understood to both familiar or non-familiar communication partners and incapability of meeting appropriate communication needs for his or her age by using speech, in less than 30 intelligible words.

­Problems in understanding meaningful language by familiar communication partners that lead to substantial difficulty in communicating.

­The need to rely on augmentative or alternative communication (AAC), including unaided (for example, sign language or other manual signs) or aided means of communication (ranging from communication boards to speech generating devices).

9.3.3 Physical

A person is regarded as a person with a disability if the impairment is such that the person is –

­unable to walk, for example, a wheelchair user;

­only able to walk with the use of assistive devices, for example, callipers, crutches, walking frames and other similar devices;

­able to walk without the use of assistive devices, but with a degree of difficulty, for example, persons with Cerebral Palsy, Polio (that is, persons who require an inordinate amount of time to walk); and

­functionally limited in the use of the upper limbs.

9.3.4 Mental

With the exclusion of intellectual disability, a person is regarded as having a mental disability if that person has been diagnosed (in accordance with accepted diagnostic criteria as prescribed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV-TR (DSM-IV-TR)) by a mental health care practitioner who is authorised to make such diagnosis, and such diagnosis indicates a mental impairment that disrupts daily functioning and which moderately or severely interferes or limits the performance of major life activities, such as learning, thinking, communicating and sleeping, amongst others.

A moderate impairment means a Global Assessment Functioning Score (GAF-Score) of 31 to 60. A severe impairment means a GAF-Score of 30 and below.

9.3.5 Hearing

The term “hearing disability” refers to the functional limitations resulting from a hearing impairment. Hearing impairment is a sensory impairment that will influence verbal communication between speaker and listener.

An adult is considered moderately to severely hearing impaired when the hearing loss, without the use of an amplification device, is described as follows:

­Bilateral hearing loss with a pure tone average equal to or greater than 25 dBHL in each ear.

­Unilateral hearing loss with pure tone average equal to or greater than 40 dBHL in the affected ear.

A child is considered moderately to severely hearing impaired when the hearing loss, without the use of an amplification device, is as follows:

­Bilateral hearing loss with a pure tone average greater than 15 dBHL in each ear.

­Unilateral hearing loss with a pure tone average equal to or greater than 20 dBHL in the affected ear.

Notes:

­Hearing impairment is an abnormal or reduced function in hearing resulting from an auditory disorder.

­A child is a person who is not over the age of 18 years.

­Amplification devices include hearing aids, implantable devices and assistive listening devices.

­Pure Tone Average (PTA): average of hearing sensitivity thresholds (in decibel hearing level) to pure tone signals at 500Hz and 1000Hz, 2000Hz and 4000Hz of each ear.

­Bilateral hearing loss is a hearing sensitivity loss in both ears.

­Unilateral hearing loss is a hearing sensitivity loss in one ear only.

9.3.6 Intellectual

A person is regarded as having an intellectual disability if he or she has a moderate to severe impairment in intellectual functioning that is accompanied by a significant limitation in adaptive functioning in at least two of the following skill areas:

­Communication

­Self-care

­Home living

­Social or interpersonal skills

­Use of community resources

­Self-direction

­Functional academic skills, work, leisure, health and safety

A moderate impairment means an intelligence quotient (IQ) of 35 to 49. A severe impairment means an IQ of 34 and below.

9.4 Confirmation of disability (ITR-DD form)

A person who wishes to claim a medical deduction for disability expenses must complete a Confirmation of Diagnosis of Disability form (ITR-DD), which is available on the SARS website (www.sars.gov.za).The ITR-DD must not be submitted with the annual income tax return, but must be retained for compliance purposes in the event of a SARS audit. The ITR-DD needs to be completed and endorsed by a registered medical practitioner every five years, if the disability is of a more permanent nature. However, if the disability is temporary, the ITR-DD will only be valid for one year, which effectively means that a new ITR-DD must be completed for each year of assessment during which a disability claim is made.