A software module that offers a complete solution for SME companies that are now required by law to report to the Department of Labour on the progress they make with skills development and employment equity, has been launched by accounting and payroll software specialist Pastel Software SA.
The new Skills Development Act requires companies to pay a levy and to invest in employee development and training. Significant portions of the levy can be recovered, provided companies report in detail the progress they make with training and employee development.
"The Department of Labour is placing great emphasis on removing discriminatory barriers and encouraging training, particularly for people disadvantaged in terms of their educational background. To rectify imbalances, achieve an equitable balance in the workplace and meet the reporting requirements of the Act, SMEs need a quick and easy solution which maximises the value of the electronic information already present in their payroll software," says Stephen Corrigan, managing director of Pastel Software SA, a Softline company.
"The Pastel Skills & Equity module is an add-on that complements and integrates fully with the Pastel Payroll for Windows Lite, Standard and Corporate payroll software packages. It streamlines the reporting process by encapsulating the reports and returns required by the Department of Labour. There are templates to simplify and speed up planning and numerical goal-setting for skills and equity training and the program pulls through automatically all existing employee details from the payroll package."
New employees created in the payroll software will also be created in the Skills & Equity module immediately. The program prints all of the standard employment equity reports required by the Department of Labour and keeps records of all skills training done by employees to simplify and expedite company claims for skills development levy grants. Similarly, all equity training done by employees is recorded for employment equity reporting.
The module also allows detailed records to be kept of each employee`s educational qualifications and training courses. Performance management issues as they relate to each employee in terms of promotions, pay increases, assessments, disciplinary actions, resignations, non-renewal of contracts and so on are also recorded in detail.
A full set of employee masterfile fields includes occupational category and level, type of employment, disablement, nature of disability, user-defined workplace categories, province and citizenship. A data remote feature makes accessing masterfile data fast, intuitive and easy.
Users can also choose the 12-month period that suits them best for reporting purposes within the conditions of the Act.
The software requires Microsoft Windows 95 or later and a Pentium processor. While the program will function with a minimum of 16MB RAM, 32MB is recommended.
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