The 30 June window has closed. If your Return of Earnings was not submitted in time, a 10% penalty has already been applied to your assessment automatically. Here is exactly what that means, what it costs you, and what to do about it now.
What happens the moment you miss the COIDA deadline
The 10% penalty is not a threat — it is automatic. The moment the deadline passes without a submitted and paid Return of Earnings, the Compensation Fund adds a 10% surcharge to your assessed amount. There is no grace period. No reminder. No warning letter before it applies.
If your assessed amount based on your payroll is R5,000, you now owe R5,500 before any further interest. If your assessment is R20,000, the penalty alone is R2,000— added on day one, without negotiation.
After your assessment notice is issued, interest accrues monthly on any unpaid balance that remains outstanding beyond 30 days. The longer you wait after missing the COIDA deadline, the more expensive your total bill becomes.
Can you still submit after 30 June?
Yes. Missing the deadline does not close the portal. The Compensation Fund accepts late ROE submissions year-round — the filing system at cfonline.labour.gov.za remains open after 30 June. You must still submit even though the window has passed.
What submitting late does not do is remove the 10% penalty. That has already been applied and it will not be reversed simply because the submission arrives late. What submitting does do is stop your situation from getting worse. Every week you delay without submitting, interest continues to accumulate on your outstanding balance. Filing your late ROE submission today draws a line under the compounding.
The practical rule is simple: submit as soon as possible after missing the COIDA deadline, pay within 30 days of your assessment notice, and you contain the damage to the 10% penalty plus whatever interest has already accrued.
What about your Letter of Good Standing?
Your Letter of Good Standing lapses the moment the deadline passeswithout a submission and payment. It does not lapse gradually — it goes immediately, and it cannot be reissued until your Return of Earnings is submitted AND your full assessment (including the 10% penalty) is paid in full.
This matters most for contractors and businesses that need to prove compliance to win work. If you are blocked from a construction site, disqualified from a government tender, or told by a client that they need your LOGS before they can continue, the only way to get it back is to clear the late ROE submission and pay the outstanding amount. There is no workaround and no temporary LOGS issued while the matter is pending.
Contractors blocked from sites after 30 June should treat this as urgent, not something to sort out next week. The LOGS cannot be recovered until the process is complete.
Can you dispute the 10% COIDA penalty?
The 10% penalty is statutory— it is prescribed by the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act and the Compensation Fund applies it automatically. You cannot appeal the penalty itself simply because the submission was late or because you were unaware of the deadline.
What you can dispute is the underlying assessment amount, if you believe the Compensation Fund has calculated it incorrectly. Common grounds for an assessment dispute include the wrong industry tariff being applied to your business, incorrect earnings figures used in the calculation, or an overstated headcount. If any of these apply, an assessment revision must be filed within 30 daysof receiving your assessment notice. Acting quickly is essential — the 30-day window to challenge a COIDA assessment does not extend.
If you believe your assessment figure is wrong, see our guide on how to dispute a COIDA assessment for the grounds that qualify and the documents you will need — or have a qualified Labour Practitioner prepare and file the revision on your behalf via COIDA assessment help.
How to submit your late ROE right now
The process for a late ROE submission follows the same steps as an on-time submission. The only difference is that the 10% penalty has already been applied to whatever assessment the system generates.
- Go to cfonline.labour.gov.za
- Log in to your employer account — if you have never accessed the portal before, register as a new user first
- Navigate to ROE Menu → Submit Return of Earnings
- Complete the earnings declaration for the period 1 March 2025 to 28 February 2026
- Submit and await your assessment notice from the Compensation Fund
- Pay the full assessed amount — including the 10% late penalty — within 30 days to stop interest accruing
- Your Letter of Good Standing will be issued after your payment clears and the Fund processes your account
The portal can be slow, especially in the weeks immediately after the 30 June deadline when late submissions peak. If the system returns an error or does not allow you to proceed, try again at off-peak hours or contact the Compensation Fund helpline directly at 0860 105 350.
What if you have never registered at all?
If your business has never registered with the Compensation Fund, a late ROE submission is not your immediate problem — you cannot submit earnings for a registration that does not exist. You must first complete employer registration before the ROE process applies to you.
Unregistered employers who have employees are personally liable for any workplace injury claimswithout any Compensation Fund cover. This is not a theoretical risk — it means that if an employee is injured at work and you are not registered, you pay every cent of treatment, rehabilitation, and compensation out of pocket.
Registration can be done through cfportal.labour.gov.za. Once registered, you will be required to file your ROE for the current and any prior assessment years in which you had employees, and the applicable late penalties will be calculated accordingly.
For a full guide to COIDA registration and obtaining your first Letter of Good Standing, see our COIDA registration guide.
The 10% penalty is already there. Submitting today does not remove it — but it stops it growing. Every week without a submitted late ROE submission is another week of interest on your outstanding balance. File it now, pay within 30 days, and your LOGS will follow.