Cape Town – Employers have until January 15 to submit their employment equity (EE) online reports in line with legislation, says the Department of Labour.
The purpose of the EE Act is to achieve equity in the workplace by promoting equity opportunity and fair treatment in employment 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 workplace.
The department says employers (companies, government departments, etc) are obliged to submit annually to the Department of Labour their employment equity reports in regard to demographic profiles, gender representation and EE plans on how to address discrimination and inequity in the workplace.
The Commission for Employment Equity (CEE) must submit an annual report to the labour minister on the state of equity in South Africa. The CEE advises the labour minister on matters relating to employment equity in the workplace.
This year’s submission of EE reports comes amid proposed amendments to the EE Act.
The key objectives of the EE amendments are:
Introduction of provisions and regulatory requirements for the promulgation of Section 53 to ensure employers financially benefiting from State contracts comply with the EE Act.
To bring alignment between definitions, policy provisions and the administration systems and enhancing on the collection of data for the National Minimum Wage Commission.
Introduction of provisions in the EE Amendment Bill and regulations for the consultation and setting of numerically based sector targets across various occupational levels to ensure an equitably represented workforce.
To make reporting requirements easier for small employers.