⚡ Quick answer The COIDA registration deadline is 7 days from your first employee’s start date — the shortest registration deadline in South African employer law. Section 80 of COIDA requires every employer, including households, to register with the Compensation Fund within that window. In practice: start the registration when the offer is accepted, not after the start date. Late registration is fixable (back-assessments plus penalties), but an injury in the gap is the scenario to avoid — the Fund can recover the entire claim cost from an unregistered employer. Every employer registration has a deadline, but only one is measured in single digits: the COIDA registration deadline of 7…

⚡ Quick answer When an employee is injured at work, the first 24 hours follow a fixed protocol: get medical attention immediately, make the scene safe (and preserve it if the injury is serious), record the incident with witnesses and photos, notify the family where relevant, and start the two reporting clocks — the COIDA claim to the Compensation Fund within 7 days, and for serious incidents the OHS report to the Department inspector within 7 days. Keep paying the employee; for temporary total disablement the employer pays the first three months and claims it back from the Fund. The day an employee injured at work is the day your…

⚡ Quick answer A Letter of Good Standing that has expired or been refused almost always traces to one of three causes: an unfiled Return of Earnings, an unpaid assessment (often an estimated one raised after a missed return), or records sitting under the wrong entity. The rescue drill: pull your Compensation Fund account status, identify the exact gap, file the outstanding ROEs, let assessments be corrected, pay or arrange, then re-request the letter. Small gaps fix in days; multi-year gaps take weeks — start before the tender advert, not the week it closes. The tender closes Friday and the Letter of Good Standing is expired, refused, or was never…

⚡ Quick answer COIDA ROE season runs from 1 April to 31 May every year: every employer registered with the Compensation Fund must file a Return of Earnings declaring actual employee earnings for the year 1 March to end February, plus an estimate for the year ahead. Prepare three numbers before April: total earnings per employee for the assessment year, your headcount, and a realistic estimate for the coming year. Miss the window and the Fund estimates your earnings upward, adds penalties, and suspends your Letter of Good Standing. Every April, the COIDA ROE lands on the same desks as the EMP501 — and every May, a slice of employers…