Questions & Answers with regards to Employment Equity
Am I a “Designated Employer”?
A “Designated Employer” is defined as a person employing more than 50 employees or a person with fewer than 50 employees, but who has a total annual turnover that is equal to or above the applicable annual turnover of small businesses as published in terms of Schedule 4 of the act.
What are my duties as a “Designated Employer”?
- Collecting Information and conducting an analysis of the company
- Duty to prepare and implement and employment equity plan
- Duty to report
- Duty to inform
How do I go about achieving Employment Equity?
Employers must draw up an employment equity plan, setting out the steps they intend taking to achieve employment equity, over the next one to five years. To do this, they need to analyse their workforce profile as well as their employment practices and policies. In drawing up the plan they must consult with unions and employees to get consensus around it. Employers need to report their equity plans regularly to the Department of Labour, which then monitors implementation.
When must Employment Equity reports be submitted?
An Employer who employees 50 to 149 employees must submit it’s first report to the director General within 12 months after the commencement of the Act, and thereafter every 2 years on the first working day of October.
An Employer who employees 150 and more employees must submit it’s first report to the director General within 6 months after the commencement of the Act, and thereafter every year on the first working day of October.
What happens if I don’t report to the Department of Labour?
The labour department has put together a database of the employers it expects to receive reports from. Once the first reports are received the department will monitor whether employers are continuing to comply with the law. Those who do not will be given a written undertaking to comply.
Employees can also report employers who do not comply with the equity legislation to the department. The names of those employers who submit reports will appear in a public register. The department of labour will encourage government and other companies to do business with those on the register. Reports will give the department information on the problems experienced by companies in implementing affirmative action, allowing the department to take the necessary steps.
The below schedule sets out the current maximum fine that may be imposed in terms of the Act for the contravention of certain provisions of the Act.
| Contraventions | Contraventions of any Provision of Sections 16, 19, 20, 21,22 and 23 |
| No previous contravention | R 500 000-00 |
| A previous contravention in respect of the same provision | R 600 000-00 |
| A Previous contravention within the previous 12 months or 2 previous contraventions in respect of the same provision within 3 years | R 700 000-00 |
| 3 Previous contraventions in respect of the same provisions within 3 years | R 800 000-00 |
| 4 Previous contraventions in respect of the same provision within 3 years | R 900 000-00 |
What is the definition of disability?
According to the Employment Equity Act the definition for disability is as follows;
People with disability are people who have a long term or recurring physical, including sensory or mental impairment which substantially limits their prospect of entry into or advancement in employment.
“Long-term” means the impairment has lasted, or is likely to persist, for at least twelve months. A short-term or temporary illness or injury is not an impairment which gives rise to a disability.
A “recurring” impairment is one that is likely to occur again. A progressive condition is one that is likely to develop or change or recur. People living with progressive conditions or illnesses are considered as people with disabilities once the impairment starts to be substantially limiting.
An “impairment” may be physical or mental. A “physical” impairment implies a partial or total loss of a bodily function or part of the body. It includes sensory impairments such as being deaf, hearing-impaired, and blind, etc. “Mental” impairment refers to a clinically recognised condition or illness that affects a person’s thought processes, judgment or emotions.
An impairment is “substantially limiting” if it imposes considerable difficulty on the person performing the essential functions of a job and this is determined by considering the extent, duration and impact of the impairment. If a person has several conditions, these should be considered together to assess if their effect is substantially limiting.
