Designated employers will have to meet a number of criteria to be issued with an annual employment equity (EE) Compliance Certificate to enable them to do business with the state.
According to the Department of Employment and Labour Deputy Director of EE, Niresh Singh, the requirement to do business with any organ of state was not new. Singh said Section 53 of the Employment Equity Act had been part of legislation since 1998 when the EE Act was introduced.
“All the provisions in the act were promulgated since 1998, except for Section 53. Therefore, this section is not new,” he said.
Singh was on Tuesday addressing a joint Department of Employment and Labour, and Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) workshop on the recent amendments to EE Act and setting of EE targets in Lichtenburg in North West province.
🎥 Deputy Director: Employment Equity, Niresh Singh giving a brief overview of the #EmploymentEquity Roadshow that is underway at Scotts Manor Conference Centre in Lichtenburg, North West Province. pic.twitter.com/UTlLTVXRKc
— Department of Employment and Labour (@deptoflabour) July 25, 2023
In terms of the amendments to EE Act that were signed into law in April by President Cyril Ramaphosa, designated employers - those that employ 50 or more employees - will need to submit annual EE reports, comply with own annual EE targets towards the five-year sector EE target; comply with the National Minimum Wage (NMW) or exemption granted not to pay NMW in the previous 12 months, and have no CCMA unfair discrimination award against employers in the previous 12 months.
“Our law is not about excluding anyone. It is about inclusivity,” Singh said.
He added that affirmative action was temporary tool to effect equity, saying, “if we meet our targets and objectives we will not need it any more”.
In the case where an employer cannot meet own set targets, there must be justifiable reasons, Singh said.
He said the annual targets the employer set to meet the five-year targets were a milestone designed to meet economically active population (EAP) statistics.
The 2023 Employment Equity national workshops are held under the theme: “Real transformation makes business sense”. The national series workshops/roadshows started on July 18 in Thohoyandou and will end in Durban on August 29.
Cape Times