Compensation Fund: NEASA and Compensation Fund engage in order to assist employers.

COMPENSATION FUND
NEASA AND COMPENSATION FUND ENGAGE IN ORDER TO ASSIST EMPLOYERS

Recently, NEASA had a fruitful and engaging meeting with the Acting Commissioner of the Compensation Fund and her leading team. This was, what NEASA hopes to be, the first of many interactions with the Fund aimed at resolving the persistent issues that have been plaguing the Fund, which have spilt over to employers, increasing the weight of their compliance burdens.

During this meeting, the most prominent issues and complaints (Letter of Good Standing (LOGS) and audit of employers) from employers and other stakeholders were addressed. The current stance on these concerns is set out below.

LETTER OF GOOD STANDING (LOGS) [click here to access the guide on how to download your LOGS]

In the past, employers had to submit their Return-of-Earnings (ROEs), and thereafter manually apply to the Compensation Fund in order to obtain their LOGS. This system was inefficient, fraught with errors, and the turn-around times were unsatisfactory, leading to loss of contracts, refusal of access to operating sites and extensive financial losses for employers. Consequently, the Compensation Fund amended this process.

Now, upon the submission of an employer’s ROEs, the employers will receive their assessment, which they must pay within 30 days. Upon the processing of the payment by the Fund, the confirmation will be loaded onto the Fund’s system and the employers’ LOGS will be made available online for download by the employer within 2 to 3 days.

A lot of employers are not aware of this change in the system and are thus still ‘awaiting LOGS’ from the Fund.

If you are an employer that is still struggling to obtain your LOGS after submission of your ROEs and payment of your assessment, or if an error is causing an incorrect assessment, please complete the following form, so that NEASA can submit your issues to the Fund and drive the resolution thereof.

AUDITING OF EMPLOYERS

When employers are submitting their ROEs, and their submission varies significantly from the previous year’s submission, resulting in a credit to the employer, or where the ROE is overstated due to an employer error, that employer is automatically flagged for an audit by the Fund’s system. When an employer is flagged for an audit, assessment is blocked not allowing any subsequent ROEs submission online or the downloading of LOGS, until such time as the audit is complete.

When the above occurs, the Fund’s system displays a ‘pop-up’ message, indicating which documents should be submitted to the Fund, for purposes of completing the audit. Although the turnaround time for resolution of audits is set at 30 days, it seems that this is not the case in reality. NEASA addressed this issue with the Fund and the Fund undertook to investigate and streamline this process.

In the meantime, if you are an employer that has been flagged for an audit, and your audit is still pending or is without resolve, please submit the following information to the Compensation Fund immediately and complete the following form, so that NEASA can submit your issues to the Fund and drive the resolution thereof.

IMPROVEMENT GOALS
In addition to the prioritised concerns above being addressed, the Fund is also focussing on the following improvements:

• – continued improvements to the Information Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure and systems of the Fund, which includes expanding the hosting capacity of the CompEasy system to Google Chrome and not only Internet Explorer.
• – NEASA will be assisting the Fund for an improved user interface of the CompEasy system through employer focus groups;
• – with the assistance of a specialist service provider from the private sector, the Fund is reviewing their internal staff structure, to ensure effectiveness and efficiency;
• – together with one of South Africa’s foremost banks, the Fund is working towards better financial security systems, in order to eliminate fraud and ensuring swifter payouts by the Fund to relevant claimants and stakeholders; and
• – additional guides and information materials will be designed to guide stakeholders on how to interact with the Fund and how to utilise the CompEasy system effectively. [Click here to access a guide on how to submit your Return-on-Earnings]

NEASA will endeavour to assist the Compensation Fund to the greatest extent possible, to ensure the proper servicing of all stakeholders in the COID-value chain. When the State and private sector join forces, service delivery across all spheres of public service can be improved and elevated.

We will keep employers abreast of the developments of this venture.

For more information:
NEASA Media Department
media@neasa.co.za