EMPLOYMENT EQUITY DONE CORRECTLY AND ON TIME EVERY TIME
Employment equity reporting is a vital aspect of the operation of any business and a key legislative requirement for designated employees.
Employment equity isn’t a light task that is easily completed or taken care of the evening before the submission deadline. Employment equity takes dedication and planning and involves multiple stakeholders in any business.
Non-compliance leads to audits resulting in hefty penalties. Our team of experts can take specialist care of your employment equity obligations ensuring that your focus is on running your business, allowing you to avoid the sleepless nights brought on by compliance deadlines.
We offer a turnkey employment equity service that takes care of setting up an employment equity committee all the way to submitting your annual employment equity return and everything in between.
Who Needs to Comply & Obligations under the Employment Equity Act
What is the purpose of the Employment Equity Act?
The Employment Equity Act promotes equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through the elimination of unfair discrimination and implementing affirmative action measures to redress the disadvantages in employment experienced by designated groups, to ensure their equitable representation in all occupational categories and levels in the workforce. Designated employers must take steps to promote equal opportunity in the workplace by eliminating unfair discrimination in any employment policy or practice.
Who needs to comply?
All employers who employ 50 or more employees or employers with fewer than 50 employees but has a total annual turnover that is equal to or above the applicable annual turnover of a small business in terms of the Schedule 4 of the Employment Equity Act, a municipality, as referred to in Chapter 7 of the Constitution, an organ of state as defined in section 239 of the Constitution, but excluding local spheres of government, the National Defense Force, the National Intelligence Agency and the South African Secret Service.
What are the obligations of a Designated Employer?
A designated employer must implement affirmative action measures for designated groups to achieve employment equity.
To implement affirmative action measures, a designated employer must:
- consult with employees;
- conduct an analysis;
- prepare an employment equity plan; and
- report to the Director-General on progress made in the implementation of the plan.
What are designated groups?
Designated groups are referred to by the Employment Equity Act as black people, women, or people with disabilities.
What is affirmative action?
Affirmative action measures are measures intended to ensure that suitably qualified employees from designated groups have equal employment opportunities and are equitably represented in all occupational categories and levels of the workforce.
Such measures must include:
- identification and elimination of barriers with an adverse impact on designated groups;
- measures which promote diversity;
- making reasonable accommodation for people from designated groups;
- retention, development, and training of designated groups (including skills development); and
- preferential treatment and numerical goals to ensure equitable representation. This excludes quotas.
- Designated employers are not required to take any decision regarding an employment policy or practice that would establish an absolute barrier to prospective or continued employment or advancement of people not from designated groups.
What is the reporting deadline?
A designated employer must submit a report to the Director-General once a year on the 1st working day of October. An employer who becomes designated on or after the first working day of April but before the first working day of October must submit its first report on the first working day of October in the following year. In both cases the employer may submit by the 15 January of each year provided the report is sent online.
Our Employment Equity Service
Our Employment Equity specialists are always up to date with the latest requirements as prescribed by the Employment Equity Act. We will ensure that you comply with your obligation under the Employment Equity Act with minimal disruption and effort from you or your team.
Our services include:
- Training for committee members, managers, and other employees.
- Compiling the annual employment equity analysis.
- Performing an employment equity audit to identify the current level of compliance and gaps in your business.
- Setting up employment equity policies and practices.
- Facilitation of your committee selection and meeting cadence, including other processes and structures required by the Employment Equity Act.
- Completing and submitting the required Employment Equity Report, Annual Review, and Income Differential Statement to the Department of Labour.
- Provide you with procedures and documentation to facilitate the consultation process.
- Dealing with Employment Equity Queries from the Department of Labour.
- Attending meetings with your Employment Equity Committee to ensure all requirements remain on track.
- Completing, maintaining, and reviewing the Employment Equity Plan.
The Consequence for Non-Compliance
Employment equity isn’t achieved by simply submitting a report to the Department of Labour on an annual basis. There are careful planning and analysis that need to be considered and performed regularly which impact recruitment and training processes.
The Department of Labour holds the CEO and highest management layer in a business directly responsible for compliance with the Employment Equity Act.
The fines which the Department of Labour may impose are substantial and may have devastating financial implications on a company. If an employer does not comply with a compliance order issued by the Department of Labour, the Labour Court is approached to force compliance with the compliance order and can enforce penalties ranging from R1.5 million to 2% of the company’s turnover.