Employment Equity Act No.55 of 1998

The right to equality is enshrined in the South African Bill of Rights, which form part of the Constitution.

The Employment Equity Act was promulgated in 1998 to give voice to these rights and its aims are:

• To promote equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through the elimination and prohibition of unfair discrimination; and
• To ensure equal representation in all occupational categories by the implementation of affirmative action measures for “designated groups”.

The Act classifies a “designated group” as black people (this definition includes Blacks, Coloureds and Indians/Asians), women and people with disabilities.

All “designated employers” must comply. A “designated employer” is:

• An employer who employs 50 or more employees, or
• An employer who employs less than 50 employees, but whose annual turnover exceeds thresholds established.

All employers must promote equal opportunity and eliminate unfair discrimination in any employment policy or practice, including, but not limited to:

• Recruitment procedures, advertising and selection criteria, job classification and grading, remuneration, employee benefits, job assignments, the working environment, training and development, performance evaluation systems, promotions, transfers, demotions, disciplinary procedures, and dismissal.
• This means that employers should review and adjust all employment policies and practices to ensure that they are not in conflict with either the Bill of Rights or the EEA. In addition, employers may not discriminate on the grounds of race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, family responsibility, ethnic/social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, HIV status, conscience, belief, political opinion, culture, language or birth.

“Designated employers” must also:

• Apply “reasonable accommodation” and affirmative action measures for people from “designated groups” to achieve employment equity;
• Appoint a senior manager in charge of employment equity;
• Consult with employees;
• Analyse its employment policies, practices and procedures to identify barriers to employment;
• Prepare an Employment Equity Plan jointly with its employees. This plan sets out targets that should be achieved within a given time frame; and
• Report on progress against the Employment Equity Plan.

The Act also provides for the establishment of a Commission of Employment Equity, which is a stakeholder body responsible for establishing Codes of Good Practice. The Commission of Employment Equity is responsible for monitoring employment activities to ensure that the Codes of Good Practice are met.

Click here to view a video that demonstrates the Employee Equity Act.