The Employment Equity Act was designed to promote equal opportunity, fair treatment and to ensure that discrimination has no place within the workplace. Furthermore, the employment Equity plan is to enable the employer “to achieve reasonable progress towards employment Equity”, to assist in eliminating unfair treatment in the workplace, and to achieve equitable representation of employees from designated groups.

Services We Provide

Employment Equity is a constant process, not only a once a year report that is being completed and submitted.

We assist with the process from the beginning, auditing of the employee list to ensure that the list is complete with all relevant data, analysis of the company profile, assisting with Employment Equity Committee meetings, registering on the Department of Labour Website for online submissions, completing of Employment Equity forms for submissions, registering on the Department of Labour Website for online submissions as well as ensuring that Employment Equity plans and targets are in line with the Employment Equity Act.

We also assist with the acquiring of a SANAS Accredited B-BBEE certification.

Legal Appointments

Section 24 Managers
Facilitate appointing of a senior manager for Employment Equity
Committee Appointment letters
Categorisation
Categorising employees into correct occupational levels

Aligning Job titles/Descriptions to the correct Occupational levels as per EEA9

Committee Election
Structuring of an Employment Equity committee and ensuring consultation with them during all phases

Auditing

Structuring of an Employment Equity committee and ensuring consultation with them during all phases

Consultation
Conducting an audit of workforce profile, policies and procedures to identify underrepresentation and barriers to achieving Employment Equity

Reporting
Reporting to the Department of Labour as per the Act

Inspections
Assisting your organisation with Department of Labour Audits

The purpose of the Employment Equity Act

The purpose of the Act is to achieve equity in the workplace, by:

• Promoting equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through the elimination of unfair discrimination.

• Implementing affirmative action measures to redress the disadvantages in employment experienced by designated groups (A designated group means black people, women, or people with disabilities) to ensure their equitable representation in all occupational categories and levels in the workforce.

Application of the Employment Equity Act

According to the legislation the act applies to:

a) Chapter II (sections 5 – 11) all employers and employees.

b) Chapter III (sections 12 – 27) applies to designated employers.

c) A designated employer means an employer who employs 50 or more employees or has a total annual turnover as reflected in Schedule 4 of the Act, municipalities and organs of state. Employers can also volunteer to become designated employers.

d) A designated group means black people, women, or people with disabilities.

What is the responsibility of the employer to ensure that the EEA is being implemented?

A designated employer must prepare and implement a plan to achieve employment equity, which must:

• have objectives for each year of the plan,

• include affirmative action measures,

• have numerical goals for achieving equitable representation,

• have a timetable for each year,

• have internal monitoring and evaluation procedures, including internal dispute resolution mechanisms, and

• identify persons, including senior managers, to monitor and implement the plan.

Failure to comply with the Employment Equity

The Labour Court has exclusive jurisdiction to determine any dispute about the interpretation or application of the EEA. It also has the power to make any order and impose a fine if an employer fails to submit an EER on time. If an employer fails to comply with its reporting obligations, a fine can be imposed by the Labour Court on application by the Director-General.

Lastly, employers should guard against setting targets in their employment equity plans that are unrealistic and unachievable.

Employment Equity Services

Labour Consultants Group offers a wide range of services to their clients and all services are offered with the highest professionalism with the client's interest at the fore.

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