18 The Constitution of South Africa provides for the right to equality and states that legislative measures may be taken to protect and advance persons who were disadvantaged by unfair discrimination. This came in the form of the Employment Equity Act which was enacted in 1998. In simple terms, the Employment Equity Act sets out to achieve two main goals; the elimination of unfair discrimination and the use of measures to redress disadvantage. The first goal is achieved by identifying and eliminating any employment barriers that may discriminate on certain listed grounds such as race, gender, sex, disability etc. The second goal is achieved by transforming the workplace in one which is more representative of the South African demographic. To comply with the transformation section of the Act, designated employers are required to do a few things. Amongst others: • They must consult with employees or trade unions on their policies, procedures, practices and work environment and the demographic representation of staff and further analyse these matters in some detail. • They must prepare and implement an employment equity plan based on the analysis. • They must, as a key element of the employment equityplan, set out quantified numerical goals and targets designed to achieve equitable representation across the designated groups. • They must submit a report every year to the Director General. • And they need to make sure these functions are overseen and driven by a duly appointed employment equity manager who would ordinarily appoint a representative equity committee. During the last few years, the legislature developed and consulted on the amendment of the Employment Equity Act as it was noted that the transformation efforts have been slow since the inception of the Act. It is speculated that these amendments will become effective from 1 September 2023, although this is yet to be confirmed. There are a few major changes. The most notable one is the fact that the Minister of Employment and Labour is empowered to prescribe sector specific equity targets. These numerical targets focus on employees within the skilled to top management job levels as well as people with disabilities. Whereas previously the employer was given the discretion to determine these numerical goals and targets and to transform the demographics of the workplace at their own pace, now under the amendments, THE EMPLOYMENT EQUITY ACT A white elephant, a black sheep or chasing rainbows? – LJ Simpson – Corporate Services Manager –
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