1 June 2000
1 June, is the deadline for employers who employ 150 or more employees to submit their first Employment Equity Reports to the Department of Labour.
Department of Labour Director General, Advocate Rams Ramashia, has welcomed the enthusiasm and commitment employers and employees have shown in implementing the Employment Equity Act to ensure workplaces reflect the country's demographic profiles and improve the representativity of black people, women and people with disabilities.
Ramashia said the Department had over the past six months assisted many employers in fulfilling their obligations, including drafting Employment Equity Plans and reporting to the Department. The Department's offices across the country had been receiving Equity Reports, which would be processed by the Employment Equity Registry to determine the state of employment equity as at May 2000.
However, Ramashia urged employers who had not yet submitted their Reports to do so without delay, failing which the Department would take the necessary steps to ensure compliance with the law.
He pointed out that the law requires employers to submit Equity Reports to the Department. Equity Plans, on the other hand, do not have to be submitted to the Department. The Reports should therefore be submitted, even if companies were still finalizing their Equity Plans.
While 1 June is the deadline for employers with 150 or more employees, employers with less than 150 employees have until 1 December 2000 to submit their reports. Employers who employ less than 50 employees do not have to submit employment equity reports.
Employment Equity Reports
The Employment Equity Reports consist of two prescribed forms which must be completed and submitted to the Department of Labour - form EEA2 and form EEA4. These are the progress reports which reflect the state of employment equity in the enterprise as at May 2000.
Form EEA2 requires employers to report on their workplace profile and on steps taken to draft an Employment Equity Plan and the contents of that plan. Form EEA4 is a statement of the income differentials in an enterprise.
The Department advises employers to complete as many sections of the report as possible and, where necessary, indicate the reasons why the report can't be completed in full.
The Act allows employers to notify the Director General in writing if they are unable to report and to give reasons for this. An extension is deemed to be appropriate in circumstances where a company is about to merge or be transferred and where the employment figures could therefore change significantly.
Employment Equity Plans
An Employment Equity Plan is a working document, internal to the organisation, which clearly indicates the steps that the organisation has taken, and will continue to take, in implementing employment equity within the organisation.
The Department is aware that in some cases the consultation process involved in drafting an Equity Plan may take longer than expected and that certain employers may not yet have completed their Plans.
It is desirable that enterprises complete the process as soon as possible, but it is not a legal requirement that enterprises complete their plan before submitting their reports.
While an official from the Department of Labour may request to view the plan, either as part of a routine inspection or for purposes of a Director-General review, the plan should not be submitted to the Department of Labour.
How will the Department of Labour use the reports?
Information contained in the reports will create a comprehensive database of employment profiles and patterns. The Department of Labour will use this information, and other data, to compile compliance profiles by industry, region and a range of other demographic factors.
These compliance profiles will assist the Department of Labour to determine appropriate enforcement strategies to ensure employment equity. These will include increased advocacy, engagement with enterprises, workplace visits by inspectors and a DG review.
The Commission for Employment Equity, established in terms of the Act, will use the information to establish norms and benchmarks to assist employers in setting their numerical goals. It is on the basis of the benchmarks that the Department, and enterprises themselves, can measure their performance.
The information gathered from the income differential statement will be used by the Employment Conditions Commission to determine wage gap benchmarks, and set norms for each occupational group and level.
Once the Department has captured all the information contained in the reports, it will analyse this and give feedback to the public on trends and benchmarks. This is a further reason why the Department wishes to discourage unnecessary extensions, as this will delay the process of giving public feedback.
The issuing of fines
The absence of an Equity Report or the information contained in the Reports will not immediately lead to the issuing of fines. However, this will assist the Department in determining which workplaces its inspectors should visit.
Where Equity Reports have not been submitted or where inadequate compliance is indicated, inspectors will visit workplaces to establish the reasons for this. The inspector will then endeavour to get the employer to make a written undertaking, that within a reasonable time period the Act will be complied with, including, for example, completing an Equity Report or Plan.
If the written undertaking is not adhered to, an inspector on a subsequent visit can issue a Compliance Order, ordering the employer to comply with the Act within a certain period. If this Compliance Order is not adhered to, the inspector can then apply to the Labour Court for the order to be made an order of the Labour Court.
In this eventuality, the Labour Court has the discretion to issue a fine as set out in the Act.
A similar procedure in the Basic Conditions of Employment Act has led to an estimated 95% of cases being settled before reaching the Labour Court.
The use of labour consultants
The Department has received complaints from employers that unscrupulous consultants are hoodwinking them into paying large amounts of money for their services.
The Department has pointed out that its offices offer assistance to employers and employees in implementing the Employment Equity Act. A Code of Good Practice on the Preparation, Implementation and Monitoring of Employment Equity Plans and a User's Guide have been produced. These documents are available for a small fee at the Government Printer, Department of Labour offices and on the Department's website.
Consultants also have no authority to obtain a Department of Labour "stamp of approval". Members of the public who are aware of consultants who claim to provide this authorization are requested to report this to the Department of Labour. At this stage, a letter of acknowledgement is the only official documentation which employers can expect from the Department upon receipt of Equity Reports.
Certificates of compliance
The Department of Labour is at this stage not issuing certificates of compliance to any employers on receipt of Equity Reports or Plans. Section 53 of the Act, which deals with the issuing of certificates of compliance for purposes of contracting with the state, is not yet in operation.
If an enterprise who wants to tender for contracts is asked for evidence of their affirmative action or employment equity policies, they are free to use their Plan, a copy of their Report or any other document that they produce.
More information
For more information and answers to frequently answered questions please consult our website at: www.labour.gov.za.
Employment Equity reports can be sent to:
Post:
Employment Equity Registry
Private Bag X117
Pretoria 0001
Email:
ee@labour.gov.za
Fax:
(012) 320-2059
(012) 322-0413
By hand:
To your nearest Department of Labour Provincial Office or Labour Centre, clearly marked: "For attention: Employment Equity Registry".
Issued by Department of Labour