The Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act Class B - COIDA / WCA Tariffs of Assessment Changes in 2021

Introduction to the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act South Africa

The Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, more commonly referred to as COIDA/ WCA, provides all employees with relevant workers compensation in the event of disablement by occupational injuries or diseases, should these have been sustained or contracted by employees in the duration of their employment.

COIDA / WCA also offers compensation should death result from injuries or diseases and it provides for any and all matters which are connected herewith. Changes in Classes and categories as the introduction document mentions. 

COIDA / WCA Annual Assessment

The Compensation Commission performs an assessment annually on all employers who have registered with COIDA / Workmens Compensation, despite the industry that they operate in. These employers are divided into industry classes and further into sub-classes of 100.

Each subclass has an annual tariff which must be paid, calculated according to the risk ratio which is assigned as per the nature of the business of a particular sub-class.

From 2021 onwards, this tariff structure is set to change and for this reason, Class B tariffs for 2020 and the following five years have been calculated.

The table which can be found on the next page indicates the Class, the sub-classes, and its corresponding industry.

An employer’s assessment fee is calculated according to the total of all employees’ salaries, both temporary and permanent, divided by 100, as according to the number of subclasses. This is then multiplied by the assessment tariff and the total must then be paid within 30 days of the assessment from the Commissioner as per Section 86.1 of COIDA. 

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The new rate will be provided and compared with the 2020 rate. Following this will be the rate changes that employers can expect for the next five years as per their current risk ratio. These fees are subject to change depending on changes in the risk ratios.

It is important that employers take note that this year’s assessment will be calculated as follows – the final assessment for salaries and wages for 2020 will be based on last years tariff rates and the provisional calculations for salaries and wages for 2021 will be calculated on the new gazetted tariff rates.

The tariffs which are introduced will replace the W.AS. 178T notice and are as follow:

Table 1: Class B current and prospective tariffs

0612 – Fruit Packing – Class VI

This includes the following businesses:

• Fresh fruit packing, grading and/or the storage thereof.

0641 – Brewery – Class VI

This includes the following businesses:

• The brewing and/or malt manufacturing which includes distributing depots.

0643 and 0650 – Coffee, tea and Tobacco – Class VI

This includes the following businesses:

• Coffee grinding, blending and/or packing as a separate business.
• Tea manufacturing, blending and/or packing as a separate business.
• Peanut roasting as a separate business.

In addition, the rate applies to employers whose main business is associated with tea and coffee merchants. It also applies to those who grind, blend, and pack tea and/or coffee.

• Cigarettes and/or tobacco manufacturing and/or warehousing, which includes all operations incidental thereto.

1730 – Broadcasting – Class XVII

This includes the following businesses:

• The operating and maintaining of broadcasting stations but excluding erection thereof.

1940 – Funeral Parlour – Class XIX

This includes the following businesses:

• The business involved with the undertaking of funerals and directing thereof, excluding the manufacturing of coffins and monumental masonry.
• Crematoria operations, and
• Cemetery boards

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Subscribers of SafetyWallet are provided with a wide array of health and safety services, in addition to ensuring that clients are compliant with COIDA / Workmens Compensation and other relevant legislation. SafetyWallet offers subscribers a Health and Safety platform which offers access to various health and safety e-Learning short courses which cover the broad spectrum of health and safety.