How To Analyse That Your EE Regulations Are In Place

As a business owner in South Africa today, you must ensure that your business complies with the evolved Employment Equity Legislation. The EE regulations directly affect labour regulations and labour laws across SA, making labour compliance for all organisations a priority.

The EE Act of 1998 is a skeleton to drive change within the country and its workforce. The act facilitates transformation by focusing on two primary elements:

Fair treatment and equal opportunity by eliminating unfair discrimination, and
The incorporation of affirmative action to redress disadvantages for designated groups to ensure representation at all levels within the workplace.

Now that you understand what the EE expects from employers, how can you ensure that your business complies with the legislation?

We explain below.

Consultation

Employers must prioritise building a representative consultation committee to consult on all subjects related to Employment Equity. The designated employer must also disclose all relevant information in the session to ensure that these sessions are meaningful. These meetings should commence four times annually, with proof required in the form of an Agenda including signed minutes and registered attendance.

Barriers Analysis

Analysing where barriers exist within the organisation is a key step in ensuring compliance with the EE Act. These barriers may exist within procedures, policies, and practices. The obstacles that qualify for analysis would be anything that adversely affects anyone within the designated groups. Doing this requires an audit from the employer, followed by affirmative action measures to address them directly.

EE Plan

The EE plan is a declaration for a business to implement EE and drive transformation. This plan must be no shorter than one year and no longer than five. Your EE plan must include the company's focus to eliminate discrimination, identify barriers, strive for the representation of qualified employees, specific goals and targets, and strategies to implement equal pay for equal work.

EE Reporting

Employers must submit EE reports (EEA2 & EEA4) annually to the Department of Employment and Labour. This submission must happen by the 15th of January and include all progress made regarding the EE plan.

Appointment of EE Manager

Finally, an employer is responsible for assigning one or more senior managers to oversee the EE plan and ensure that the company is taking steps to achieve the goals highlighted. They are then responsible for creating the necessary resources for these results.