{"id":821734,"date":"2025-04-26T13:24:45","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T11:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=821734"},"modified":"2025-08-26T11:32:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T09:32:13","slug":"bad-news-for-south-african-businesses-with-over-50-employees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/821734\/bad-news-for-south-african-businesses-with-over-50-employees\/","title":{"rendered":"Bad news for South African businesses with over 50 employees"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Experts from Bowmans have broken down what the new Employment Equity (EE) Regulations mean for employers in South Africa, with deadlines fast approaching across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this month, the Department of Employment and Labour gazetted the Employment Equity Regulations, which set out the regulations for specific racial and gender-based numerical targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The regulations set out the specific racial and gender-based numerical targets for businesses across 18 industries in South Africa to achieve by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It forms part of the South African government’s Affirmative Action goals, where it wants South Africans to reflect the racial and gender demographics of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department said that the targets have been implemented to ensure \u201cequitable representation of suitably qualified people from designated groups at all occupational levels in the workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These targets will apply to \u2018designated employers\u2019, which employ more than 50 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talita Laubscher, Melissa Cogger, and Chlo\u00eb Loubse from Bowmans said that the key steps for designated employers are what they do next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legal experts broke down the timeline and steps designated employers should take to ensure compliance with their affirmative action obligations under the EE regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conduct workplace analysis ASAP<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Designated employers are required to collect information relating to their employment policies, practices, procedures, and working environment to identify potential barriers that adversely affect designated groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The analysis must include a workplace profile to determine the underrepresentation of people from designated groups across various occupational levels in the workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although employers may have previously undertaken the analysis, all designated employers will now need to implement a new plan using the updated prescribed forms in the General Administrative EE Regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Designated employers must pick a date as soon as the cut-off date, which will take a snapshot of their workforce for its profile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The experts said the date should be determined by working back from 1 September 2025, factoring in sufficient time to consult and prepare the EE Plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prepare a new EE Plan before 1 September 2025<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Using the analysis results, a designated employer will then prepare a draft EE Plan in accordance with section 20 of the EEA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will also need to consult with representatives of its workforce regarding the analysis and draft of the EE Plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As per the General Administrative EE Regulations, the EE plan must be five years long, starting on 1 September 2025 and ending on 31 August 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the employer becomes a designated employer after 1 April 2025, it will need to prepare an EE plan for the remainder of the period until 31 August 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plan must also state the numerical goals to achieve the equitable representation of suitably qualified people from designated groups within each occupational level of the workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These must be determined by examining the employer\u2019s workforce profile, sector targets, and applicable EAP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EE Plan will not be filed at the Department of Employment and Labour, but it may have to be produced should the Director-General request it as part of a review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consult on the analysis and the EE Plan<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

A designated employer must consult with representatives of its workforce on the conduct of the analysis and the EE Plan as per sections 16 and 17 of the EEA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These representatives should account for the interests of employees across all occupational levels, people from designated groups, and people who are not from designated groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there is a representative trade union for members at the workplace, it must be consulted, too.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Submit a report <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

A designated employer must submit a report to the Department’s Director-General, as per section 21 of the EEA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EE report can be submitted manually or electronically using the online reporting system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Electronic submissions of the EE Report may be made between 1 September 2025 and 15 January 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should a designated employer seek to submit the EE Report manually, it will need to deliver the report by hand to the Head Office of the Department between 1 September 2025 and 1 October 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A department representative will then help the designated employer immediately capture the information on the online system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“An employer that becomes a designated employer after the first working day of April must only submit its EE Report in the following reporting cycle,” said the experts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Submit an Income Differential Statement<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

In addition to the EE Report, a designated employer must submit an Income Differential Statement (EEA4 Form) to the National Minimum Wage Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EEA4 Form can be submitted electronically using the same online reporting system as the EE report between 1 September 2025 and 15 January 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If submitted manually, the employer must do this between 1 September 2025 and 1 October 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like the EE report, an employer that becomes a designated employer after the first working day of April will only submit its EEA4 Form in the following reporting cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Request a compliance certificate <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Department of Employment and Labour Minister Nomakhosazana Meth<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

If the employer wishes to work with the state, it will also be required to produce a compliance certificate under section 53 of the EEA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The certificate will be conclusive proof that the employer complies with the relevant chapters of the EEA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A compliance certificate may only be issued to a designated employer if the Minister is satisfied that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • The designated employer has complied with any applicable sector numerical target, or has raised a reasonable ground to justify its non-compliance;<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The designated employer has submitted its EE Report.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • There have been no findings by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) or a court in the last 12 months that the employer breached the unfair discrimination provisions of the EEA; and<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The CCMA has not issued an award against the employer in the previous 12 months for failing to pay the national minimum wage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Designated employers can request their compliance certificates online after they have submitted their EE reports. These certificates are valid for 12 months from the date of issue. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Legal experts from Bowmans have broken down what designated employers need to consider with the newly gazetted Employment Equity Regulations. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":813271,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[11709,4444],"class_list":["post-821734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-bowmans","tag-department-of-labour"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=821734"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":821826,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821734\/revisions\/821826"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/813271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=821734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=821734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=821734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}