EE Compliance Certificate to be a prerequisite for access to state contracts – Department of Employment and Labour
Designated employers will have to meet a number of criteria to be issued with an annual employment equity (EE) Compliance Certificate to enable them to do business with the State.
According to Department of Employment and Labour Deputy Director of EE, Niresh Singh, the requirement to do business with any organ of state was not new. Singh said Section 53 of the Employment Equity Act has always been part of legislation since 1998 when EE Act was introduced.
“All the provisions in the Act were promulgated since 1998, except for Section 53. Therefore, this section is not new,” he said.
Singh was today addressing a joint Department of Employment and Labour, and Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) workshop on the recent amendments to EE Act and setting of EE targets in Lichtenburg, North West Province.
In terms of the amendments to EE Act that were signed into law in April by President Cyril Ramaphosa the criteria for designated employers (those that employ 50 or more employees) will need to:
Submit Annual EE Report
Comply with own Annual EE Targets towards the 5-year Sector EE Target;
Comply with the National Minimum Wage (NMW)/ exemption granted not to pay NMW (previous 12 months);
No CCMA Unfair Discrimination Award against employers (previous 12 months).
“We are removing the regulatory burden for designated employers. Our law is not about excluding anyone. It is about inclusivity,” Singh said.
According to Singh affirmative action is temporary tool to effect equity, “if we meet our targets and objectives – we will not need it anymore”.
The main objectives of the Employment Equity Amendments are - to reduce the regulatory burden for small employers; to empower the Minister to regulate the sector specific numerical EE targets; to promulgate Section 53; and to strengthen compliance, including the issuing of EE compliance certificates.
Singh said in the case where an employer cannot meet own set targets, there must be justifiable reasons. He said the annual targets the employer sets to meet the five-year targets were a milestone designed to meet the economically active population (EAP) statistics.
The 2023 Employment Equity national workshops are held under the theme: “Real transformation makes business sense”.
The focus of this year’s workshops is to create awareness on the recently promulgated EE amendments, sector targets and regulations; EE impact in labour market; demonstration of online EE system to incorporate the amendments and generate certificates of compliance; presentation of the CCMA’s case law on EE; reporting on EE and the Commission for Employment Equity (CEE) Annual Report launch outcomes.
The national series workshops/roadshows started on 18 July 2023 in Thohoyandou and will end in Durban on 29 August 2023.
The rest remaining EE workshops with venues to-be-confirmed will be held as follows:
Gauteng
Pretoria (01 August 2023) - Diep en Die Berg (Pretoria East)
Johannesburg (02 August 2023)
Mpumalanga
Witbank (Emalahleni) - (15 August 2023)
Nelspruit (Mbombela) – (16 August 2023)
Western Cape
George (15 August 2023)
Cape Town (16 August 2023)
Eastern Cape
Gqeberha (22 August 2023)
East London (23 August 2023)
Mthatha (24 August 2023)
Free State
Welkom (22 August 2023)
Bloemfontein (23 August 2023)
KwaZulu-Natal
Durban (29 August 2023)
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 other interested stakeholders.
The national workshops start at 10:00am-14:00pm and members of the media are invited.
More information on EE workshops will be available on various Department of Employment and Labour’s social media platforms and the Department’s website www.labour.gov.za – which will also provide updates on schedules and venues.
Source: Government of South Africa