Benefitting from interns

SETA: BE PREPARED TO PAY STIPENDS, LEVIES

You may qualify for reimbursement if you follow proper guidelines.

Government through the departments of labour and higher education has come a long way in its attempt to put structure into internship programmes. In past years the system had been rigged with a myriad of irregularities in favour of employers and a bit harsh towards interns.

Government stepped in and established internship programmes managed and funded by sector education and training authorities (Setas). Essentially Setas are organisations that ensure quality training in a specific sector of the economy, e.g. the Insurance Sector Education and Training Authority (Inseta).

Using the example of Inseta – which is an organisation that assists unemployed graduates with work-based experience through providing grants to employers to enable interns to achieve a maximum of one year’s experience – applicants must be eligible through certain formal education, and be an unemployed resident of South Africa, among other requirements.

But for employers, how can you benefit from such programmes? The first prerequisite is that you must be a levy payer. You cannot benefit if you are not willing to contribute through your taxes. Therefore your skills development levy must be up to date before making an application.

Secondly, you must have the ability to fund the intern for the first three months or more, depending on the Seta. That means all expenses due to the intern, such as a monthly stipend, will initially come out of your pocket. But don’t be alarmed you will be reimbursed accordingly – if you follow proper administrative guidelines, otherwise you might find yourself not qualifying for reimbursement.

For example, Inseta requires quarterly reports including intern competence reports, together with payroll slips in order to enable it to effect quarterly payments. I would assume a failure to adequately perform such administrative tasks could have financial consequences on your part.

If you deem yourself fit and proper to satisfy pre-application requirements, submit an application to the relevant Seta. Your application shall then be assessed to determine eligibility and is subject to funding availability of course. Finally where do you find interns? Well the programme is open to all interns and the Setas do not necessarily push interns your way. That means you can find suitable individuals and approach Setas with your chosen personnel. But be diligent with the assessment of your chosen interns because all Setas require specific formal education and other requisite items to qualify a candidate to join the programme. Some Setas keep a list of unemployed personnel and attempt to help them find intern positions, so a better option would be to allow the Seta to provide you with the list.