Remuneration paid to eligible apprentices and trainees is excluded from the calculation of their employers’ levy. This incentive will assist skills creation in South Australia by encouraging employers to take on trainees and apprentices.
From 1 July 2008 the apprentice and trainee incentive is available to all employers including self-insured employers registered as an employer with WorkCover SA that employ an eligible person.
Criteria
To be eligible for the apprentice and trainee remuneration exemption an employer must:
- be registered as an employer with WorkCover SA either as a non self insured employer or a self-insured employer; and
- have entered into an approved contract of training with the apprentice or trainee in a designated trade or declared vocation. The apprentice or trainee must be identified in an approved contract of training or an approved training contract.
Requirements on employer
An employer is required to:
- maintain information in writing, in respect of each relevant financial year verifying there exists an approved contract of training entered into under the Training and Skills Development Act 2003 or, from 1 September 2008, an approved training contract under the Training and Skills Development Act 2008 between the employer and the apprentice or trainee
- to complete their reconciliation statement as usual.
The forms will be updated to allow an employer to provide details about the apprentice(s) or trainee(s) they employ for the purpose of obtaining the apprentice and trainee remuneration exemption.
For each financial year, the exemption of remuneration is to be calculated as part of the end of year reconciliation for that financial year.
However, this should not prevent an employer electing to adjust their levy payments by excluding the remuneration paid to an apprentice or trainee as the levy payments fall due in a financial year. The levy payable for the financial year will then be subjected to any adjustment as part of the end of financial year reconciliation process.
Important note
The exclusion of remuneration paid to apprentices and trainees does not impact upon an employer’s obligation to register with WorkCover SA as an employer and pay a levy.
Where an employer only employs apprentices or trainees and no other workers, the levy payable is the minimum levy for that financial year.
The levy payable is always at least the minimum levy for a particular financial year (e.g, $50 plus GST plus OHS fee for 2008-2009).
An information publication on the Apprentice and Trainee Remuneration Exemption is available for download here.