With the recent changes to the Labour Law in South Africa, employers are required to ensure that a SKILLS TRANSFER PLAN is produced – and kept on the employee’s file – FOR ALL FOREIGN EMPLOYEES WHO HOLD A WORK VISA.This was previously only required for foreign employees on an Intra Company Transfer permit.
Since May 2014 when the New Immigration Regulations were circulated, all Intra Company Transfer Permit applications had to be submitted with a skills transfer plan in some form.
The Skills Transfer Plan
This plan must be produced by the employer outlining how the foreign national will transfer their skills to local South African employees or permanent residents during the course of their employment or assignment in South Africa.
Employers are now required to produce a skills transfer plan for any position that is held by a foreign national in South Africa on any work visa.
It is however not required of Employers to submit the skills transfer plan along with the other work visa applications to the Department of Home Affairs but only to draft the skills transfer plan and keep it on the employee’s file for record purposes only.
Unscheduled Visits/Inspections – Department of Labour
Please note:The Department of Labour is authorised at any stage to conduct unscheduled site visits of an employer’s premises to ensure that the above requirement is adhered to.
It is recent practice for the department to ask for any documents and information that they feel is necessary to verify that the employer remains compliant with ALL statutory regulations.
Employers who currently employ foreign nationals should ensure that they have the necessary skills transfer plan for each foreign employee on file in order to avoid any penalties that may result from non-compliance.