President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law the Employment Equity Amendment Bill of 2020 on the 12th of April, 2023. The Amendment Bill seeks to advance the transformation of South Africa’s workforce by setting equity targets for economic sectors and geographical regions and requiring enterprises to develop transformation plans. The Bill amends the Employment Equity Act of 1998 (Act No 55 of 1998) with new measures to promote diversity and equality in the workplace.
No regulations have yet been published to give specific implementation to the law. However, the amendment law allows the Minister of Employment and Labour to prescribe demographic quotas to private employers regardless of whether they do business with the state.
The amendment Bill also allows the Minister to regulate compliance criteria to issue compliance certificates. Companies looking to do business with the state will be required to submit a certificate from the Department confirming they comply with the Employment Equity Act and its objectives, and do not pay their employees less than the national minimum wage. The law still requires employers to pay workers equal pay for equal work.
It is said that we define designated Employers as employers that employ over 50 employees. Thus employers employing less than 50 employees, irrespective of their annual turnover, will no longer form part of the designated employer definition and, therefore, will be exempt from reporting annually to the Department of Employment and Labour. This is no reason for relief, as it introduces an unacceptable policy that will ultimately be passed on to all employers.
It has been undertaken to ensure that the legislation is complied with by appointing more inspectors to make sure that inspections are being implemented accordingly. Employers can therefore expect increased inspections and compliance orders.
Among others, Sakeliga and Solidarity have already started legal action against the Government regarding the proposed amendments.
DA’s Micheal Cardo revealed that they will join Solidarity in challenging the matter in court, he said: “The DA believes in creating an open and thriving economy, leading to prosperity for all South Africans. This Act only reinforces the past’s racial categories, rather than promoting much-needed economic growth and job creation.”
SEESA will always endeavour to provide the best and most accurate legal advice and assistance possible to ensure that our clients get workable solutions to trade successfully.
SEESA – Your partner in Legal Compliance and Business Solutions.
About The Author:
Zanel Hickman is the Provincial Manager at Pretoria, started her career at SEESA Skills in October 2019. She has completed her B.Com Marketing Management degree in 2007.
Resources: Employment Equity Amendment Bill of 2020