The HR compliance deadline calendar for South African employers

Four dates carry a South African HR calendar: employment equity reports (EEA2 and EEA4) close online on 15 January each year, Workplace Skills Plans and Annual Training Reports close on 30 April, the COIDA Return of Earnings runs from 1 April to 30 June, and UIF declarations are due monthly by the 7th.

Reviewed by TefCo Compliance Research — last verified 15 September 2026.

In short

Employment equity reporting for designated employers (50 or more employees, or organs of state) closes online on 15 January each year at 23:59.
Workplace Skills Plans and Annual Training Reports close on 30 April each year, with no extensions accepted after the deadline.
The COIDA Return of Earnings submission window runs from 1 April to 30 June, with a 10% penalty for late submission.
UIF employee declarations are due by the 7th of every month for the preceding month (Unemployment Insurance Act 63 of 2001, section 56).

The annual calendar at a glance

Recurring HR compliance dates
Return	Window / due date	Who	Source
EEA2 (workforce profile) and EEA4 (income differentials) online reporting	Season opens 1 September; online submission closes 15 January	Designated employers — 50+ employees, or any organ of state	Department of Employment and Labour EE Online portal
Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) and Annual Training Report (ATR)	Closes 30 April each year; extension requests must reach the SETA by 31 March	Levy-paying employers wanting the mandatory grant	Sector SETA notices (e.g. HWSETA, ETDP SETA)
COIDA Return of Earnings (W.As.8)	Window: 1 April to 30 June	Every registered COIDA employer, including domestic employers	Compensation Fund notice, Government Gazette 54524
UIF employee declaration	By the 7th of each month, for the preceding month	All registered employers	Unemployment Insurance Act 63 of 2001, section 56

Employment equity reporting: manual closes before online does

The Department of Employment and Labour opens its employment equity reporting season on 1 September each year. Manual reporting closes in October, while online submission of the EEA2 and EEA4 forms stays open until 15 January the following year at 23:59. A designated employer under the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 is one employing 50 or more people, or any organ of state regardless of headcount.

Missing the 15 January online deadline means the employer cannot obtain an employment equity compliance certificate, which is required to tender for state work.

WSP/ATR: a hard cut-off, not a soft one

SETAs run their Workplace Skills Plan and Annual Training Report submission windows on the same national timetable: opening in the first quarter of the calendar year and closing on 30 April, with SETAs such as HWSETA and ETDP SETA stating explicitly that no extensions are granted for late, incomplete or inaccurate submissions received after the deadline. Where an extension is genuinely needed, the request — with a motivation letter — generally has to reach the SETA by 31 March, before the deadline itself.

Missing the 30 April date forfeits the mandatory grant, a partial refund of the Skills Development Levy, for that levy year.

COIDA Return of Earnings

The Compensation Fund's Return of Earnings covers actual remuneration paid in the assessment year just ended and estimated remuneration for the year ahead. The Acting Compensation Commissioner's 2026 notice confirms the submission window runs from 1 April to 30 June, with a 10% penalty added for late submission and interest on overdue accounts.

A Return of Earnings must be filed even by domestic and household employers — COIDA registration for domestic workers has applied since a Constitutional Court ruling took effect on 1 March 2021.

Without a filed and paid-up Return of Earnings, an employer cannot obtain a Letter of Good Standing, which most tenders, construction site permits and large-corporate supplier onboarding processes require.

UIF: the only monthly item on this list

Section 56 of the Unemployment Insurance Act 63 of 2001 underlies the requirement that employers furnish UIF with details of every employee, and returns — whether filed via uFiling or through SARS — must be submitted no later than the 7th of each month for the preceding month.

Frequently asked

Does a business with 40 employees still have to submit an EE report?

No — the Employment Equity Amendment Act 4 of 2022, in force from 1 January 2025, removed employers with fewer than 50 employees from the annual EE reporting requirement regardless of turnover, unless they are an organ of state. They can still apply for a compliance certificate voluntarily if they want to tender for state work.

What happens if the WSP/ATR deadline is missed?

The mandatory grant — a 20% refund of the Skills Development Levy paid that year — is forfeited for the full levy year. SETAs have stated there are no extensions once 30 April has passed.

Is the COIDA Return of Earnings the same as the UIF declaration?

No. They go to different funds under different Acts — the Return of Earnings goes to the Compensation Fund under COIDA and is annual; UIF declarations go to the Unemployment Insurance Fund and are monthly.

Sources

TefCo Corporate Compliance (Pty) Ltd is a compliance management platform, not a legal, tax or advisory firm. This guide is general information, not advice. Fees, dates and thresholds change — confirm current figures with the regulator before you rely on them.