COIDA assessment calculator
Every employer pays the Compensation Fund a yearly assessment, and most have no idea what it will be until the invoice arrives. Put in your annual payroll and the closest industry class and see a realistic estimate on the current tariffs. No account, nothing is saved.
How the Compensation Fund works out your assessment
COIDA is the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act. It runs a national insurance scheme, the Compensation Fund, that pays an employee’s medical costs and lost earnings after an injury at work, and in return bars the employee from suing the employer. The premium is called the assessment, and it is worked out the same way for every employer in the country.
- Assessable earnings. Everything you paid your employees in the year: salaries, wages, overtime, bonuses and most allowances, before deductions. Each person counts only up to the earnings cap, R668 000 for the 2026/27 year, so a director earning R1.2 million adds R668 000 to the total, not R1.2 million.
- The tariff. Every employer is placed in an industry subclass, and each subclass has a tariff published in the Government Gazette each year, expressed as a rate per R100 of earnings. Office and professional work sits below half a percent; food retail and hospitality around three quarters of a percent; construction, transport and security around two and a half percent; rock drilling and blasting over three percent.
- The sum. Assessable earnings multiplied by the tariff. If that comes to less than the minimum assessment, R1 621 for 2026/27, the minimum applies. Employers of domestic workers have a lower minimum of R560.
- The invoice. The Fund issues a notice of assessment after you file the return of earnings. Pay it within 30 days or interest runs, and the letter of good standing is only issued once it is paid.
The subclass is the part you can get wrong. A cleaning company that describes itself as “services” may be placed in a general class at a higher tariff than the cleaning subclass. The description you give when you register sets the tariff for every year after, so give a precise one.
Representative tariffs used by this calculator
| Class | Typical work | Rate per R100 of earnings |
|---|
Each class contains many subclasses with their own rates; the figure shown is representative of the class. The Compensation Fund’s gazetted tariffs of assessment for 2026/27 are the authority.
The dates that cost money
- Seven days to register. An employer must register with the Compensation Fund within seven days of employing the first person. Registration is free.
- The return of earnings season. Every year the Fund opens the return of earnings, the ROE or W.As.8, usually from 1 April, and publishes the closing date for that season. The return declares actual earnings for the year that ended on 28 February and estimated earnings for the year ahead.
- Ten percent for a late return. A return filed after the closing date attracts a penalty of 10 percent of the assessment.
- Thirty days to pay. Interest runs on an assessment unpaid after 30 days, and the letter of good standing is withheld until it is paid.
- The letter lapses every year. A letter of good standing is valid until the next return falls due. Contractors who forget find out at the site gate.
What the assessment buys
An employee injured on duty, or who contracts an occupational disease, claims from the Fund: medical costs, temporary disability payments at 75 percent of earnings, a lump sum or pension for permanent disablement, and death benefits for dependants. Section 35 of the Act then bars the employee from suing the employer for damages. An unregistered employer loses that protection in the worst way. The Fund can still pay the injured worker, then recover the whole cost from the employer, raise back-dated assessments with penalties for the unregistered years, and prosecute. The assessment, for most small businesses a few thousand rand a year, is cheap insurance against that.
Frequently asked questions
How is the COIDA assessment calculated?
The Compensation Fund multiplies your assessable annual earnings by the tariff for your industry subclass. Earnings are capped per employee, at R668 000 a year for 2026/27, so a director on R1 million counts as R668 000. The tariff is a percentage set each year in the Government Gazette and ranges from well under half a percent for office work to over three percent for the most dangerous trades. If the result is below the minimum assessment the minimum applies.
What is the minimum COIDA assessment?
R1 621 a year for 2026/27 for ordinary employers, and R560 for employers of domestic workers. A small business whose payroll times tariff comes to less than that pays the minimum.
When is the return of earnings due?
The Compensation Fund opens the return of earnings season each year, usually from 1 April, and publishes the closing date for that season. The return declares actual earnings for the year that ended in February and estimated earnings for the year ahead, and the Fund issues the assessment from it. A late return attracts a 10 percent penalty on the assessment and unpaid assessments attract interest.
Who must register for COIDA?
Every employer with one or more employees, including part-time and casual staff and directors who draw a salary, within seven days of employing the first person. Registration itself is free at the Compensation Fund; the cost is the annual assessment.
What is a letter of good standing?
A certificate from the Compensation Fund confirming that your registration is current, your return of earnings is filed and your assessment is paid. Tenders, main contractors, mines and many landlords will not let you on site without a current one. It lapses when the next return falls due, so it has to be renewed every year.
Know when the return of earnings opens
The Fund announces the season each year and the late penalty is ten percent. We send the opening date, the closing date and the tariff changes, once a year, when they are published.
Keep exploring
This calculator gives an estimate from the Compensation Fund’s published earnings cap, minimum assessment and representative class tariffs for 2026/27, checked September 2026. The Fund’s own subclass allocation and notice of assessment decide the final amount. Information, not advice.