Every South African employer registered with the Compensation Fund needs to know one number each year: the maximum earnings ceiling used to calculate their COIDA assessment. That number directly affects how much your business will pay for the 2026/2027 assessment year.

What Actually Changed

For the assessment period running 1 March 2026 to 28 February 2027, the Department of Employment and Labour has increased the maximum annual earnings ceiling under the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA) from R633,168 to R668,000 per employee.

In practical terms: when you calculate your Return of Earnings (ROE), any individual employee’s earnings above R668,000 for the year aren’t included in your assessable payroll. If, for example, a director or senior employee earns R900,000 a year, only R668,000 of that salary counts toward your COIDA assessment. The rest falls outside the calculation entirely.

The minimum annual assessment, the baseline every registered employer pays regardless of how small their payroll is, remains at R1,621 for commercial employers and R560 for domestic employers (households employing gardeners, housekeepers, childminders, and similar workers).

Why This Matters for Your Return of Earnings

COIDA assessments aren’t a flat fee. Your annual liability is calculated as a percentage of your total assessable payroll, and that percentage (the “tariff”) depends on which industry class the Compensation Fund has assigned your business. Rates vary considerably between lower-risk service businesses and higher-risk industries. Because the earnings ceiling caps what counts as “assessable” per employee, an increase in that ceiling generally means a modest increase in your overall assessment, even if your tariff rate and actual payroll haven’t changed.

When you submit your ROE, you’ll typically need to report on two separate periods:

• Actual earnings for the period ended (1 March 2025 to 28 February 2026), calculated against last year’s R633,168 ceiling
• Provisional earnings for the year ahead (1 March 2026 to 28 February 2027), estimated against the new R668,000 ceiling

Getting these two figures mixed up is a common, avoidable error worth double-checking before submission.

Who Actually Needs to Submit an ROE

This isn’t limited to large employers. Every employer registered with the Compensation Fund must submit a Return of Earnings annually, including:

• Companies and close corporations with even one employee.
• Working directors who draw a salary from their own company (a director paid a monthly salary counts as an employee for COIDA purposes).
• Domestic employers, including households employing a single gardener or domestic worker.

An ROE is required even if your business had no workplace injuries during the year, and even if your total payroll is small. The minimum assessment fee still applies.

Don’t Confuse This with Other 2026 Threshold Changes

It’s easy to mix this up with other unrelated payroll thresholds that also moved around the same time – notably the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) earnings threshold, which increased separately (from roughly R261,748 to R269,601 per year, effective 1 May 2026) and governs a different set of employee protections entirely. When reviewing your payroll compliance for 2026, it’s worth treating the COIDA ceiling and the BCEA threshold as two distinct figures serving two distinct purposes, rather than assuming an update to one covers the other.

Note: given how frequently these figures are republished (and occasionally conflated) across payroll commentary, please verify the current gazetted amounts directly against the Department of Employment and Labour’s notice before relying on them for a specific submission.

What Employers Should Do

• Update payroll and HR systems to reflect the new R668,000 ceiling before calculating provisional earnings for 2026/2027.
• Confirm which industry class and tariff rate applies to your business, since this – not just the ceiling – drives your actual assessment amount.
• Make sure any working directors are correctly included in your ROE calculations.
• Submit your ROE within the annual window to keep your Letter of Good Standing valid. Lapses here can affect your ability to tender for certain contracts and your standing with the Compensation Fund generally.

While every reasonable effort is taken to ensure the accuracy and soundness of the contents of this publication, neither the writers of articles nor the publisher will bear any responsibility for the consequences of any actions based on information or recommendations contained herein. Our material is for informational purposes.