NTA - please provide detailed statistics
CONCERNED LAW-ABIDING EMPLOYER WRITES:
Lately you constantly hear advertisements on radio promoting the training levy scheme that Government introduced in 2014/2015.
According to these advertisements it is as simple as sending your staff on training (at your cost) and reclaiming 50% of these expenses from the Namibian Training Authority yearly at the end of their financial year. Their financial year ends in March. Participating companies must submit their claims in April, and it is important to note that your claims need to reach the NTA before 1 May or you will forfeit your claim.
An employer can also not send their staff to just any and all training and expect to be reimbursed. Very specific criteria exist and employers need to make sure that they send staff to courses and to institutions that are approved by the NTA.
The NTA do provide this information and even provide lists of which institutions and which courses they approved for this process.
All this sounds good and it seems like an excellent initiative by government to create funds for much needed training for Namibians.
However, the reality is somewhat different. Even if you have followed all the rules and ticked all the boxes you still end up waiting for more than a year for the reimbursement to be processed and paid. This is if you get reimbursed at all?
To my knowledge a substantial percentage of the previous year's, 2015/2016 as well as 2016/2017 claims have not been paid yet, and we must already submit the 2017/2018 claims before the end of this month or it will be forfeited.
Now this raises a few very important questions?
How much money is paid to the NTA on a yearly basis; per year and since inception?
What amount is paid back to companies as the promised 50%; per year, and the full reimbursement history since inception?
Does the reimbursements, per year and since inception represent 50% of what was collected, and if not what percentage is paid back to employers?
What happens to the portion of the 50% that is not paid back to the employers that are fully entitled to these funds?
This would be an excellent in-depth newspaper story, with all the exact timelines and figures. I am sure there are more than just one company still waiting for their reimbursements from last year, and even the year before, fully convinced that they followed all the rules and did everything required to get these 50% reimbursements.
Lately you constantly hear advertisements on radio promoting the training levy scheme that Government introduced in 2014/2015.
According to these advertisements it is as simple as sending your staff on training (at your cost) and reclaiming 50% of these expenses from the Namibian Training Authority yearly at the end of their financial year. Their financial year ends in March. Participating companies must submit their claims in April, and it is important to note that your claims need to reach the NTA before 1 May or you will forfeit your claim.
An employer can also not send their staff to just any and all training and expect to be reimbursed. Very specific criteria exist and employers need to make sure that they send staff to courses and to institutions that are approved by the NTA.
The NTA do provide this information and even provide lists of which institutions and which courses they approved for this process.
All this sounds good and it seems like an excellent initiative by government to create funds for much needed training for Namibians.
However, the reality is somewhat different. Even if you have followed all the rules and ticked all the boxes you still end up waiting for more than a year for the reimbursement to be processed and paid. This is if you get reimbursed at all?
To my knowledge a substantial percentage of the previous year's, 2015/2016 as well as 2016/2017 claims have not been paid yet, and we must already submit the 2017/2018 claims before the end of this month or it will be forfeited.
Now this raises a few very important questions?
How much money is paid to the NTA on a yearly basis; per year and since inception?
What amount is paid back to companies as the promised 50%; per year, and the full reimbursement history since inception?
Does the reimbursements, per year and since inception represent 50% of what was collected, and if not what percentage is paid back to employers?
What happens to the portion of the 50% that is not paid back to the employers that are fully entitled to these funds?
This would be an excellent in-depth newspaper story, with all the exact timelines and figures. I am sure there are more than just one company still waiting for their reimbursements from last year, and even the year before, fully convinced that they followed all the rules and did everything required to get these 50% reimbursements.
Kommentaar
Republikein
Geen kommentaar is op hierdie artikel gelaat nie