24/12/2018
Good day entrepreneurs
Today i thought I'd discuss a topic that most here seem to need help on.
LETTER OF GOOD STANDING / COID
- WHAT IS COIDA. Compensation for Injuries and Diseases Act, it is an act promulgated under the Occupational Health and Safety Act which in short States that a worker must receive treatment and compensation if necessary for any injury incurred or disease contracted as a result of the work they carry out, furthermore any persons who have employees must be registered for this workman's compensation either by the Dept of labour's Compensation fund or a private insurer such as FEMA.
WHAT IS A LETTER OF GOOD STANDING (LOG) After successfully registering and payment of the necessary yearly fee the compensation commissioner will issue your company with a letter of good standing which is valid for one year or until the following returns period which is the following April. The LOG shows the company name, expiry date of the LOG, the class of works you are registered for eg general building / electrical contractor / Cleaning services etc , most importantly it shows your registration number which is a string of numbers starting with the digits 990000.... This number is also used to verify if your LOG is genuine and valid, this is done online at www.labour.gov.za.
AFTER obtaining your letter of good standing, keep it in as many locations as possible in case an employee gets injured on duty the LOG will be required at the hospital you take them to to ensure they will be treated immediately and the hospital fees will be claimed from the dept of labour. On a construction site for example copies of the LOG should be displayed in the site office, placed in the safety file, first aid box, in the site cars or any other place for easy access should there be an incident.
REGISTRATION PROCESS. For first time registration you submit an application form plus company registration document and id copy at your nearest labour office, the process is much quicker when done at head office in Pretoria. Indicate on the form the date on which the company hired its first employee, the number of employees the company has, the type of work the company does and the expected wages in total for the upcoming year now that is the tricky part, all this info you provide is used to asses and calculate how much you are supposed to pay yearly for you to be in good standing with the compensation commissioner as giving this information blindly will leave you with a huge bill that you might have difficulty paying, I recommend that unless you are fully conversant on the COID ACT you seek the services of a consultant to do this for you, now given that these services are offered free at the dept of labour the consultant should not charge you exorbitant fees for their services.
WHAT TO DO AFTER REGISTERING. Keep your registration info. Display your letter of good standing and place copies on site. Register online. In the following calendar year remember to submit yearly returns and pay the yearly fee so as to obtain a new LOG each year. Keep records of all returns submitted In case there is a discrepancy that requires old records to sort out .
WHAT IF YOU DO NOT HAVE EMPLOYEES. Some people end up registering simply because it is a required document on tendering, keep in mind that once you register you are liable for paying yearly fees and submitting returns yearly, now if you are not in a position to do so yearly or do not have employees as yet I suggest you obtain a tender letter each time you submit a tender.
We at Zanzu Business Consult provide all the above services at a consultancy level, having provided such services and dealt with the dept since 2010 we have knowledge on the processes within the dept, good working knowledge of the OHS and COID ACTS and all other regulations promulgated thereunder. For quick and easy registrations, queries, submission of online returns, assessment fee reduction, claims and many more services contact the experts Zanzu Business Consult on 074 548 6015(calls/txts/WhatsApp) email [email protected]
We also provide various Health and safety services including reasonably priced safety files, training on how to compile safety files, ohs audits placement of safety officers and she reps on site.
