Hot off the press: President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed the Employment Equity Bill into law on Wednesday (12 April)!

This is big news for companies with fewer than 50 employees. They will no longer be designated employers (regardless of turnover) and therefore won’t need to meet EE compliance criteria or submit annually.

These amendments have been introduced with the aim of giving the Employment and Labour Minister the ability to regulate sector-specific EE targets and compliance criteria to issue EE Compliance Certificates (which are necessary for companies wanting to do business with the State).

All companies with more than 50 employees will need to submit employment equity plans addressing the targets (amongst other criteria) and annually submit reports to the Department of Employment and Labour. Designated Employers wishing to do business with the State will be required to produce a certificate of compliance from the Labour department.

The Department is also in the process of increasing the number of labour and health inspectors in order to monitor and enforce compliance as the law now obliges inspection of workplaces and issuing of compliance orders to ensure the envisioned changes actually happen.

Companies must also keep themselves updated with changes to the National Minimum Wage Act (and amendments), as the compliance certificate mentioned above not only deals with compliance to the EE Act and its objectives, but also confirms that these companies do pay their employees equal to or more than the national minimum wage.

All in all, these changes will help ensure that suitably qualified people from designated groups have equal employment opportunities and are represented at all occupational levels in the workplace. So, get ready to embrace the new regulations – they’re coming your way!

Do you need help in navigating these new changes?

Contact EconoBEE today on 011 483 1190!