Employment Equity
We at The Cannabis Institute understand that with the volume of legislation it is challenging for businesses to be compliant in all areas without assistance. Our business consultants are competent advisors who keep abreast of all new and changed legislation within the Department of Labour Employment Equity framework.
What is the Employment Equity Act?
The Employment Equity Act was brought about as a tool to aid employers to achieve a more representative workforce through providing principals of planning, guiding policies and practices ensuring diversity in line with the Economically Active Population statistics promoting fair and sustainable human resource processes.
Who is affected?
According to the South African Department of Labour, employers who employ more than 50 employees or have a total annual turnover that is equal and above the applicable annual turnover of a small business must prepare, and implement, an Employment Equity Plan. This plan, valid for 1 to 5 years, should achieve progress towards redressing disparities in employment. A report is then submitted annually (as from the amendment on the 16th of January 2014) detailing an employer’s progress against his/her plan.
How is an Employment Equity plan formulated?
An employer would appoint an Employment Equity Manager/ Champion who would begin a consultative process with employees and representative trade unions. Through this process an Employment Equity Committee would be formed which was representative of race, gender and occupational categories. This committee would begin auditing and analyzing all employment policies and practices in the workplace outlining barriers and developing a demographic profile of the organization’s workforce. The committee would then develop policies and an Employment Equity Plan on how the organization intended to overcome the barriers identified and achieve representative diversity throughout all occupational categories.
What does an Employment Equity Plan state?
An EEP must state the:
- Objectives to be achieved for each year of the plan
- Affirmative action measures to be taken
- Numerical goal to achieve equal representation of under-represented groups
- Time-table for each year of the plan
- Duration of the plan (not longer than 5 or shorter than 1)
- Procedures used to monitor and evaluate the plan
- Internal procedures to resolve any dispute about implementation of plan
- Persons responsible for monitoring plan
What does an Employment Equity Report include?
The EE Report must be submitted to the Department of Labour on 1 October annually (manual submission) or by 16 January (online submission). The submission would include an EEA2 (workplace profile) and an EEA4 (income differential) report and would outline an employer’s progress with regards to overall representation and income differential by occupational categories, race and gender.