For current year reporting on Employment Equity (EE) use existing legislation – Department of Employment and Labour

While the proclamation notice for the commencement date of the amended Employment Equity (EE) Act was still pending, employers have been advised to use existing legislation when reporting on their EE status.

The EE Amendment Bill was assented into law on 6 April 2023 by President Cyril Ramaphosa and it is still awaiting his signature for the implementation date.

Department of Employment and Labour Deputy Director: Employment Equity, Niresh Singh, was speaking to stakeholders during a joint Departmental EE workshop with the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) at Birchwood in Boksburg.

Singh said that: "for this year's reporting we are still using existing legislation. The EE Amendments of 2023 does not have a commencement date yet".

He said that while awaiting the starting date of the amended EE legislation the Department was consolidating inputs on the Draft Regulations on sector EE targets published on 1 February 2024.

The EE reporting season opened on 1 September 2024 and will close on 15 January 2025.

"EE is a positive piece of legislation that tries to include rather than exclude. It is good for both designated and non-designated employers," he said: "No country or economy is sustainable if it is not reflective of its demographics".

The Amendments to the EE Act of 1998 and its Regulations were initiated to reduce the regulatory burden on small businesses, empower the Minister of Employment and Labour to regulate the setting of sector-specific EE numerical targets, and the promulgation of Section 53 that deals with the issuing of an EE Compliance Certificate as a prerequisite for accessing of State contracts.

The Department of Employment and Labour, and the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration have been conducting national workshops under the theme: "Bridging the Equity Gap Through Diversity & Inclusion" focused on:

• The EE status of the labour market as per the 24^th CEE Annual Report;
• An update on the EE amendments, in particular, the proposed draft regulations on proposed sector EE targets;
• An update on the 2024 EE reporting season;
• Key insights from the CCMA on topical cases related to unfair discrimination in terms of harassment, disability, and discrimination based on arbitrary grounds.
  
  Singh emphasised that although the amended EE Act was law, however, the law was not in force yet.
  
  "Having the law is one thing - but having systems in place such as Regulations and IT systems is difficult," he said.
  
  The Department has been conducting the EE workshop nationally since August and these are expected to conclude this week in Cape Town on Friday. Tomorrow (18 September) another workshop will be held in Pretoria at the Ditsong National Museum of Cultural History.
  
  The EE workshops are targeted at employers or heads of organisations, academics, assigned senior managers, consultative forum members, human resource practitioners, trade unions, employees, and interested stakeholders.
  
  These are held from 10:00 to 14:00 in the respective venues and members of the media are invited.
  
  For media inquiries, kindly contact:
  
  Teboho Thejane
  
  Departmental Spokesperson
  
  082 697 0694/ [email protected]
  
  -ENDS-
  
  Issued by: Department of Employment and Labour
  
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