On 12 April 2023, President Cyril Ramaphosa assented to the Employment Equity Amendment Bill.
The Amendment Bill will however only come into effect from the 1st of September 2023 and therefore employers are advised to remain compliant until this time to avoid unnecessary risk and potential fines linked to non-compliance. For a detailed outline of what is included in these amendments read our article: The Future of Employment Equity – LabourNet
Due to the change in definition of a “designated employer” to exclude companies who have less than 50 employees, many employers will not be deemed as designated to comply with Chapter 3 of the Employment Equity Act and will need to formally deregister from the Department of Labour by providing the required proof showing that the company indeed has less than 50 employees on their payroll together with a formal Application Form: EEA14 Director-General Notification Form. Only once approval of deregistration is obtained from the Department of Labour will employers be able to stop complying with Chapter 3: Affirmative Action Measures.
It is of utmost importance that all non-designated employers continue to stay compliant with Chapter 2 of the Employment Equity Act which stipulates that every employer must take steps to promote equal opportunities in the workplace by eliminating unfair discrimination in any employment policy or practice. This chapter also highlights different forms of unfair discrimination and what discrimination would not be deemed as unfair.
It is also advisable that employers with less than 50 employees need to keep the new amendments in their line of sight and continuously promote Equitable Representation of Designated groups as far as possible and in line with the sectoral targets, so that when they become designated again (have more than 50 employees) the targets are not unattainable.
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