An introduction to employment equity reports

According to the Employment Equity Act, all designated employers are obliged to submit an Employment Equity report on an annual basis. We take a look at the basic requirements of this report.
Transcript:
The Employment Equity Act prescribes that designated employers should complete and submit employment equity reports. It is important to also understand the purpose of the Employment Equity Act, which is to promote equal opportunities, fair treatment of designated employees in order to eliminate unfair discrimination. It is also to promote affirmative action measures and in so doing, redress past discriminations that were done to people in the designated groups. Under the
Employment Equity Act, designated group is black people which is classified as African, Indian, Coloured and Chinese people, as well as woman and people with disabilities.
A designated employer is any employer who employs more than 50 people or any employer who employs less than 50 meet people but meets the threshold as prescribed by schedule four of the Employment Equity Act. Schedule four of the Employment Equity Act sets out for specific industries the turnover threshold that would deem them to be a designated employer. Designated employers also include municipalities, any organ of state, as well as any employer deemed to be a designated employer through a collective agreement. Designated employers are required to consult with the employees to conduct an analysis to create an employment equity plan and to submit a report to the Director General. An Employment Equity report should be submitted on an annual basis as soon as the employer becomes a designated employer. At the next opportunity, the designated employer should submit a report.
The first step would be for the designated employer to get the employees to fill in the EEA1 form which can be founded on the Department of Labour website. This form would allow employees to fill in the agenda their disability status and race and then thereafter, the designated employer would have to consult with the representative trade union or representative employees in order to discuss matters pertaining to the employment equity report and employment equity plan. The designated employer has to have an EE Manager, which this person has to directly report to the Chief Executive Officer. If a designated employer does not have a representative trade union, employees should be allowed to nominate Employment Equity committee members and these people would be able to represent the employees in consultation regarding the employment equity report and employment equity plan.
The analysis process is a process where the designated employer looks at their policies and procedures in order to identify barriers that could negatively affect the employment of people in designated groups. The EEA12 form which is found on the Department of Labour website could be used with regards to this and in doing so, the designated employer should also consider the economically active population in the province or nationally.
The Employment Equity plan is a plan used to achieve fair representation of designated employees. The plan should not be shorter than a year or longer than five years. The plan basically states the objectives that the designated employer intends to achieve in order to ensure that there is fair a representation of designated employees. Other important considerations would be that the employer is required to place a copy of the Employment Equity Act available for employees at their workplace. Other documents that should be available to the employees will include the Employment Equity plan, as well as a copy of the employment equity report. These documents are public documents and on Department of Labour website you would be able to find a list of employers who have submitted reports. Another very important consideration is that filing season opens for electronic filing between the 1st of September of each year and it closes on the 15th of January of each yea. You can only submit in this period, there is no option for late submissions.