Do the quick assessment below against a few key aspects. If you find that you cannot answer all as YES, make an appointment with Gert van der Linde to assist you in the process.  The rates are very reasonable, and an audit will put your mind at ease and show you what your organisation needs to do. Contact Gert van der Linde today and let him help you get smart with employment equity in your organisation.

 

	Will you pass?
	Do you have a designated senior manager to drive the equity process, and has the person signed an agreement to take on that responsibility?
	Has the equity plan and report been communicated and published in the workplace?
	Do you have a duly elected committee that is representative of all races, genders and levels who have been nominated and willingly accepted the responsibility?
	Do you have minutes of the Employment Equity Committee Meetings?
	Does your profile accurately reflect the degree of representation of designated groups against the EAP (economically active population) both nationally and provincially?
	Has your organisation modified or made any adjustments to accommodate disabilities?
	Do all your employees have job descriptions that clearly state what their responsibilities are, as well as graded / evaluated objectively accordingly?
	Do you have a policy on medical testing?
	Are all your line managers trained on performance management?
	Has readiness of designated people to be given added responsibilities been determined through assessments and appraisals?
	Do you have an up-to-date skills gap analysis for all employees that clearly identify development plans for individuals, specifically aligned to the Equity Plan?
	Do you have the 9 key policies to support your equity strategy in place?
	Have you set up measures to determine the success of the Plan?

 

Employment Equity Consulting Services

Gert van der Linde is an expert in the development and implementation of Employment Equity Plans and submission of annual reports to the Department of Labour. He will guide you through the process using a 10 Point Plan and make sure that equity in your organisation meets the requirements of the Act as well as supports the growth and success of your business. The two should always go hand-in-hand. Avoid unnecessary and heavy penalties!  Contact him today and ensure that your company complies with the Employment Equity Act!

Employment Equity legislation in South Africa

Employment Equity legislation in SA has been tightened over the last few years but does not appear to be reaping the desired results. Little has changed by way of appointments of ‘the previously disadvantaged’ to top and executive management positions as anticipated. The Department of Labour Inspectors are active in carrying out audits of organisations and not sympathetic to any excuse.

Every designated employer is required to design and implement an employment Equity plan. The purpose of the Employment Equity plan is to enable the employer “to achieve reasonable progress towards employment Equity”, to assist in eliminating unfair discrimination in the workplace, and to achieve equitable representation of employees from designated groups by means of affirmative action measures. an employment Equity plan, therefore, must clearly set out the steps that the employer plans to follow to achieve these objectives.

In order to assist employers, the Department of Labour published a Code of Good Practice on the Preparation, Implementation and Monitoring of Employment Equity Plans. The Department of Labour also published a user guide to the employment Equity act, detailing 10 steps to preparing and implementing an employment Equity plan. Every employer should be in possession of at least these two documents – the Code of Good Practice and the User Guide. There is a rigid format for an employment Equity plan, but the act allows employers to customise the plan to suit their own needs. Employment Equity and affirmative action applies to all designated employers and their employees, particularly those employees from designated groups. Designated employers are employers who employee 50 or more employees, employers who employ less than 50 employees but whose annual turnover exceeds or equals the amounts in schedule 4 of the EEA, or an employer who has been declared a designated employer in terms of a collective agreement. Designated groups are Africans, Coloureds, and Indians, woman of all races, and people with disabilities. All employers who have 50 or more employees on the date on which reports were due are required to report.

Chapter 3 of the employment Equity act requires that employers take certain affirmative action measures to achieve employment Equity. Employers must consult with the unions and employees in order to make sure that the plan is accepted by everybody and to allow all parties to have fair input Employers must analyse all employment policies, practices and procedures, and prepare a profile of their workforce in order to identify any problems relating to Employment Equity.  Employers must prepare and implement an employment Equity plan, setting out the affirmative action measures they intend taking to achieve the employment Equity goals. Employers must report to the Department of Labour on the implementation of the plan in order for the department to monitor their compliance. Employers must display a summary of the provisions of the act in all languages relevant to their workplace. The summaries are available from the government printer and certain offices of the Department of Labour.  Contact Gert van der Linde today, to assist with your compliance.

The purpose of  the Employment Equity Act, No 55 of 1998 is to achieve equity in the workplace by promoting equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through elimination of unfair discrimination and implementing affirmative action measures to redress the disadvantages in employment experienced by designated groups, in order to ensure equitable representation in all occupational categories and levels in the workforce.

This Act provides for additional reporting requirements for employers with the additional burden of submitting an Employment Equity Report.

All designated employers must, in terms of Section 21 of the Employment Equity Act of 1998 submit their annual report annually. The next reporting deadline for 2018 is 1 October 2018, if you submit manually or by post. Reports cannot be submitted via e-mail or fax.

The Department of Labour has also launched an Employment Equity Online Reporting System where reports can be submitted electronically. The deadline for online submissions for the 2018 reporting period is 15 January 2019. To complete your online report, please contact Gert van der Linde for assistance.