Your COIDA assessment fee is not a fixed amount. It is calculated as a percentage of your total annual payroll — and that percentage depends entirely on which industry class the Compensation Fund has assigned to your business.
The tariff rates are published by the Compensation Commissioner under Section 83 of COIDA and gazetted annually. For the 2025/2026 assessment year — the Return of Earnings submission currently open until 30 June 2026 — the rates range from 0.18% for low-risk service businesses to 3.34% for the highest-risk operations.
This article sets out the full rate table, explains how to find your class, and shows you exactly how the calculation works.
The 2025/2026 COIDA tariff table — all 13 classes
The Compensation Fund classifies every registered employer into one of 13 industry classes (A through M), each carrying a specific assessment tariff. The tariff is multiplied against your total assessable payroll to produce your annual assessment fee.
| Class | Rate | Industry profile |
|---|---|---|
| A | 0.18% | Finance, beauty and hair salons, medical specialists, consultants, admin, education |
| B | 0.51% | Fruit packing, brewery, coffee/tea/tobacco, broadcasting, funeral parlour |
| C | 0.81% | Opencast mining, fisheries, food retail, clothing, hardware, hospitality |
| D | 0.85% | Sugar farming, coal mining, drilling, pharmaceuticals, telecoms, laundry |
| F | 0.29% | Grease manufacturing |
| G | 1.96% | Meat, dairy, milling, textiles, plastics, woodworks, warehousing |
| H | 1.65% | Mixed farming, sawmilling, paper, petroleum, hides, bricks |
| L | 1.16% | Iron and steel, foundry, engineering, motorcar assembly, Transnet, Eskom |
| M | 1.04% | Households and domestic workers |
| E | 2.01% | Chrome and electroplating, horse stabling |
| J | 2.65% | Livestock farming, building and electrical construction, civil construction, goods transport, security services |
| K | 2.71% | Ocean fishing, underground mining, quarrying, steel construction, concrete, marble, tar and asbestos |
| I | 3.34% | Rock drill and blasting operations, circus |
Source: COIDA Regulations on Tariffs of Assessment — Government Gazette 43959, GN 1282 (3 December 2020), as confirmed active for the 2025/2026 assessment year. The 5-year phase-in period is complete — every class is now at its steady-state rate.
The 2025/2026 earnings ceiling and minimum assessment
Two figures cap and floor every COIDA assessment regardless of your industry class.
Earnings ceiling: R633,168 per employee per year (R52,764 per month)
Earnings paid to any individual employee above this ceiling are excluded from your assessable payroll. If you have a director earning R900,000 per year, only R633,168 of that salary enters your ROE calculation. The ceiling increased 6% from R597,328 in 2024/2025.
Minimum annual assessment: R1,621 (commercial employers)
Regardless of how small your payroll is, the minimum fee applies. A business with one part-time employee earning R60,000 per year in Class A would calculate 0.18% × R60,000 = R108 — but would pay R1,621 because that is the minimum. The minimum increased 5.95% from R1,530 in the prior year.
Minimum annual assessment: R560 (domestic employers)
Households employing domestic workers, gardeners, or childminders have a lower minimum assessment of R560. The Class M tariff of 1.04% applies to household employers.
How to calculate your COIDA assessment fee
The formula is straightforward once you know your class and total payroll.
Step 1 — Total assessable payroll.Add all salaries, wages, overtime, bonuses, and other remuneration paid to employees during the assessment year (1 March 2025 to 28 February 2026 for the current ROE). Cap each individual employee’s earnings at R633,168. Do not include employer contributions to pension, medical aid, or other benefit funds — only cash remuneration counts.
Step 2 — Apply your tariff rate. Multiply your total assessable payroll by your class rate (expressed as a percentage divided by 100).
Step 3 — Apply minimum. If the result is below R1,621 (commercial) or R560 (domestic), the minimum applies.
Example — Class A employer (consulting firm)
- 3 employees, total assessable payroll: R1,800,000
- Calculation: R1,800,000 × 0.0018 = R3,240
- Above minimum, so R3,240 is payable
Example — Class J employer (construction contractor)
- 8 employees, total assessable payroll: R2,400,000
- Calculation: R2,400,000 × 0.0265 = R63,600
- Significantly above minimum
Example — Class M employer (domestic household)
- 1 domestic worker earning R72,000 per year
- Calculation: R72,000 × 0.0104 = R748.80
- Above the R560 domestic minimum, so R748.80 is payable
Within each class: the subclass structure
Each of the 13 classes contains multiple subclasses — 103 subclasses in total across the full COIDA tariff register. All subclasses within a class share the same rate. The subclass determines which class you fall into.
The classification that matters for your assessment is not which broad class label sounds most like your business — it is the specific 4-digit subclass code that the Compensation Fund assigns to your registration. This code is on your employer registration documentation and on your assessment notices.
Common subclasses by industry:
Class A (0.18%) — low-risk services. Includes subclasses covering financial services, accounting practices, legal firms, medical and dental specialists, beauty salons, educational institutions, and business consultants. If your business is entirely office-based with no physical risk activities, you are likely Class A.
Class C (0.81%) — light industrial and retail.Includes food retail (supermarkets, restaurants, takeaways), clothing retail, hardware stores, and hospitality businesses. Note: hospitality sitting at Class C (0.81%) explains part of why the industry’s COIDA non-compliance rate is high — the fee is not trivial on a large hospitality payroll.
Class D (0.85%) — mid-risk processing. Includes pharmaceutical manufacturing, telecoms, coal surface operations, and laundry services.
Class J (2.65%) — construction and transport.Building and electrical construction, civil construction (roads, bridges, earthworks), goods transport (trucks, logistics), and security services all fall within Class J. This is why construction and security employers with larger payrolls carry more significant COIDA assessment obligations — and why they are more motivated to stay compliant.
Class K (2.71%) — high-risk extraction. Underground mining, quarrying, ocean fishing, steel construction, and asbestos-related work. The second-highest rate in the register reflects the genuine workplace injury risk in these industries.
Class I (3.34%) — highest risk. Rock drill and blasting operations carry the highest tariff in the system. If your workforce operates explosive or percussive rock-breaking equipment, this is your class.
Class M (1.04%) — domestic households.Introduced when domestic workers were formally brought under COIDA protection following the Constitutional Court’s Mahlangu ruling. Every household that employs a domestic worker, gardener, or childminder for more than a few hours per week must register under Class M and submit an annual ROE.
How to find your assigned subclass
If you are already registered with the Compensation Fund, your subclass code appears on your employer registration certificate and on your annual assessment notice. Log into the CompEasy portal at cfportal.labour.gov.za— your registration details will show your assigned subclass.
If you are registering for the first time, you select the subclass that most closely matches your primary business activity during the W.As.2 registration process. The full classification table (Form W.As.150T(E)) is available from the Department of Employment and Labour.
If your business has changed its primary activity since you registered, your current subclass may no longer be accurate. The Compensation Fund can reassign your subclass on application — and using the wrong subclass, whether it results in underpayment or overpayment, is correctable.
Why your class matters beyond the fee
The tariff class is not just about how much you pay. It determines the risk category under which your employees are covered and, in the event of a workplace injury claim, influences how the Compensation Fund assesses the claim against your registration.
An employer who is incorrectly classified in a lower-risk class and whose employee suffers an injury characteristic of a higher-risk activity may face complications in the claims process. Accurate classification protects both the employer and the employee.
The ROE window is open until 30 June 2026
The 2025/2026 Return of Earnings submission window closes 30 June 2026. This is when you declare your actual payroll for the year just ended (1 March 2025 to 28 February 2026) and your provisional payroll for the year ahead. The Compensation Fund calculates your assessment fee from the ROE and issues an assessment notice.
Miss the 30 June deadline and a 10% penalty applies automatically on the day the window closes. Your Letter of Good Standing lapses immediately. The combination of a lapsed LOGS and a mounting penalty is the most common COIDA compliance crisis South African employers face — and it is entirely avoidable.
Use the ClearComply COIDA calculator to estimate your assessment fee before you submit. Enter your total payroll and select your industry class — the calculator applies the R633,168 ceiling and the R1,621 minimum automatically and gives you an estimate in seconds.
For the full ROE submission guide — what to submit, how to submit on CompEasy, and what to do if your LOGS has already lapsed — see our COIDA Return of Earnings guide.
Check your current COIDA compliance status free at clearcomply.co.za/check.
Sources: COIDA Regulations on Tariffs of Assessment — Government Gazette 43959, GN 1282, 3 December 2020. Maximum and minimum assessable earnings notice for 2025/2026 — Government Gazette 52453, GN 3115. Form W.As.150T(E) Classification of Industries, Department of Employment and Labour. All tariff rates verified against the gazette source documents.