Category — Employment Equity

Employers are reminded that employment equity (“EE”) reports must be submitted to the Department of Labour by 1 October each year.

Who must comply?

Companies must submit EE reports if they are deemed to be “designated employers” for the purposes of the Employment Equity Act 1998 (“the Act”).     Designated employers are companies employing more than 50 employees and any company with an annual turnover that is more than the sector-specific income thresholds outlined in the Act.    The thresholds vary greatly from one industry to another and are currently:

• Agriculture: R2m;
• Catering, accommodation and other trade: R5m;
• Community, social and personal services: R5m;
• Construction: R5m;
• Electricity, gas and water: R10m;
• Finance and business services; R10m;
• Manufacturing: R10m;
• Mining and quarrying: R7.5m;
• Retail and motor trade and repair services: R15m;
• Transport, storage and communications: R10m; and
• Wholesale trade, commercial agents and allied services: R25m.

What must be submitted?

The EE Plan requires a substantial investment of time and energy from the parties involved.   Employers seeking to submit an EE Plan for the first time must initially engage in a process of consultation with employees or their representatives.    The agenda for those consultative meetings should begin with an analysis of employment policies/practices and the working environment, with a view to indentifying employment barriers which adversely affect people from designated groups.     For the purpose of the Act, “designated groups” is defined as black people (Africans, Coloureds and Indians), women and people with disabilities who are South African citizens through birth or descent, or through naturalisation before 1993.

Having commenced consultation and agreed on a workplace profile, an employer must set about drafting an EE Plan.      The Act requires the EE Plan to include:

• objectives to be achieved for each year of the plan;
• affirmative action measures to be implemented by the employer (such as measures to eliminate employment barriers; measure to promote workplace diversity; efforts to “reasonably accommodate” employees from designated groups and measures to ensure equitable representation in all occupational categories);
• numerical goals to achieve equitable representation of suitably qualified people from designated groups in each occupational category;
• an annual timetable for the achievement of objectives; and
• processes for monitoring the implementation of the EE Plan.

In addition to the EE Plan, designated employers must submit:

• Employment Equity Report Form :

http://www.labour.gov.za/documents/forms/employment-equity/form-eea2-employment-equity-report

• Income Differential Statement Form:

http://www.labour.gov.za/documents/forms/employment-equity/form-eea4-income-differential-statement

We’re not ready – what do we do?

Employers who have neglected their employment equity obligations do not have sufficient time to implement an EE Plan before 1 October 2010.   Such companies are best advised to begin preparations for the 1 October 2011 deadline and hope that the Department of Labour does not impose penalties for non-compliance, which can be up to R500,000.00 and R100,00.00 for every additional offence.

Workplace Strategies is a consulting firm assisting organisations with people management and labour law compliance.