{"id":867402,"date":"2026-07-24T14:23:38","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T12:23:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=867402"},"modified":"2026-07-24T14:23:59","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T12:23:59","slug":"new-employment-equity-rules-for-businesses-employing-more-than-50-people-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/867402\/new-employment-equity-rules-for-businesses-employing-more-than-50-people-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"New employment equity rules for businesses employing more than 50 people in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) has gazetted a draft Code of Good Practice on the preparation and implementation of employment equity plans for South African businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The draft Code relates to the new Employment Equity laws that came into effect in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Employment Equity Amendment Act and its accompanying two sets of Employment Equity Regulations came into effect on 1 January 2025 and 15 April 2025, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the law, designated employers in South Africa\u2014businesses employing over 50 people\u2014are required to develop plans to ensure their workforces reflect the country\u2019s demographics at all levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To this end, the government, through the DEL, is empowered to set numerical demographic targets for businesses across 18 sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This requires designated businesses to ensure that they have sufficient black, Indian\/Asian, coloured, female, and disabled employees to meet these targets over five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On top of the targets, designated employers are also saddled with increased admin and burdensome compliance costs\u2014while facing steep fines and penalties for falling foul of the laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of these administrative tasks is the preparation, implementation, and monitoring of employment equity plans, which must be submitted annually between September and January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the DEL, the Code of Good Practice is intended to provide guidelines to designated employers and employees on the preparation, implementation and monitoring of these plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also provides guidelines to employers and employees to consider and apply appropriately to their workplace circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notably, the department said the Code must be read in conjunction with the main Employment Equity Act and other Codes and laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes all relevant employment legislation, broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) laws and the National Minimum Wage Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rules businesses should follow<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Broadly, the draft Code breaks down the EE plans into three phases, looking at preparation, implementation and monitoring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of preparation<\/strong>, the Code focuses on consultation and business analysis as the foundation for the plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It stresses the importance of designated employers assigning senior managers to drive the process and steer the plan, while also consulting widely with employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critically, it emphasises the importance of employee consultation, including both designated and non-designated employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The preparation phase should be underpinned by a business analysis that assesses the degree of under-representation within the business and the various barriers to employment equity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also calls for a full review of all policies and practices, procedures, and the working environment as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of implementation<\/strong>, the Code focuses on establishing a concrete roadmap for employment equity, along with measurable targets and measures to address shortfalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notably, this shifts the onus onto businesses to set and maintain the targets being mandated by the laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also puts on paper a business’s intentions to correct issues or eliminate identified barriers to meeting these targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Code also expects businesses to allocate resources and funding to achieving the goals set out in the plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final theme of the draft Code is monitoring<\/strong>, where employers are expected to have regular meetings to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the plan against pre-defined indicators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critical to this is record-keeping, where reports and outcomes need to be kept and tracked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Businesses are expected to submit an annual report to the Director General of the DEL that reflects progress against the current Employment Equity Plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across each phase, the draft Code insists on open communications between employers and employees, so that the information is accessible to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The full draft code is available below. The code is open to public comment for 60 days following gazettement, with the closing date for comments in late September 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All public comments must be in writing and forwarded to christina.lehlokoa@labour.gov.za or Tsholofelo.ndlovu@labour.gov.za.<\/p>\n\n\n\n