318. Mr H B Groenewald (DA-NW) to ask the Minister of Labour:
(1) What (a) is the current status at the Compensation Fund regarding the
turnaround strategy, (b) measures have been put in place to provide
better services and (c) degree of success has been achieved;
(2) Whether her department has set any timeframes in this regard; if not,
why not; if so, what are the relevant details? CW420E
Minister of Labour replies:
1. The Compensation Fund embarked on a turn-around strategy to address
its service delivery challenges. In response to its challenges the
Fund has undertaken initiatives to address issues around people,
processes, and systems to realise greater efficiency, better service
delivery, and greater accessibility of service.
As part of the turn-around strategy, the Fund reviewed its business
processes, service delivery model, and the organizational structure.
A new service delivery model that is aligned to the Fundâs strategic
goals was developed and the final organisational structure was
approved by the Minister in consultation with the Minister of Public
Service and Administration in August 2011. The Fund is finalising the
consultation process with all the relevant stakeholders and will
implement the new organizational structure with effect from 1
September 2012. Change management strategy and communication plans
were developed to communicate the purpose, benefits and impact of
future changes to the business and organization. Stakeholders in the
nine provinces were informed of the Compensation Fund turn-around
initiatives, including the upcoming decentralisation of COID services,
during the Compensation Commissioner and Compensation Fund Board
members Road Shows.
A competency framework that defines the knowledge, skills and
behaviours required of managers and employees to meet the Fundâs
legislative mandate and strategic goals was developed. Employees are
currently being trained based on the competency framework and work
place skills plan to close the identified competency gaps.
As an interim measure to resolve service delivery challenges, the Fund
piloted the implementation of certain COID services in four provinces
(i.e. Limpopo, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, and Eastern Cape) in 2009
and additional five provinces (i.e. Gauteng, North West, Northern
Cape, Western Cape, and Mpumalanga) in 2010.
Another initiative that was undertaken was the development of the
Integrated Claims Management and Financial systems. The Integrated
Claims Management and Financial systems went live on the 3rd October
2011. While there have been minor glitches with the new systems, the
business management and the technical team are continuously resolving
the problems. Phase 2 of system enhancements started after go-live,
which include among others, the Return of Earnings Website, SMS & e-
mail services, and Claim Status Website. The Return of Earnings
Website went live in May 2012 and has thus far yielded positive spin-
offs for the Fund. The Fund has this far registered 18 000 employers
on the ROE website. R1 billion of revenue has been generated through
the use of this facility. R80 millions of this R1 Billion was
collected within one month of raising assessments, which is the first
in the history of the Fund invoiced.
The Fund has upgraded and deployed new technology to enable Customer
Care staff to deliver quality service and to provide first call
resolution. In January 2012 the Walk-in Centre Customer/Queuing
Management System, call logging and recording systems were
implemented.
The Rehabilitation and Re-integration Policy, which is aimed at re-
integrating the injured employees back to the workplace, was submitted
to the Minister for approval and will be tabled at NEDLAC in this
financial year. The Fund is currently amending COIDA and this is
being consulted with the relevant stakeholders.
2. The implementation of the new organisational structure will take place
in September 2012. The decentralisation COID services will be
implemented in full in Gauteng and Western Cape provinces before the
end of this financial year. Decentralisation will be rolled out to all
other provinces from this financial year depending on the readiness of
the provinces in terms of infrastructure requirements such as office
space and equipment. The Rehabilitation and Re-integration Policy
will be tabled at NEDLAC in this financial year and will be finalised
by 2014. The legislative processes to amend COIDA are being followed
and this will be finalised by 2015.