Employees Should Understand

An alarming number of workers in South African do not learn about labour law, despite the fact that the laws are available to the public.  In a country where transformation has been high on agenda ever since 1998, overall corporate transformation is apparently only cheap talk with numerous South African employees crying foul about unfair treatment in the workplace.

For many of these employees, Employment Equity (EE) tends to be the most confusing term which is usually misinterpreted resulting in the CCMA sitting with a pile-up of tens of thousands of referrals each year from workers accusing their employers of unfair treatment.

As much as South African labour law demands that every designated employer is required to design and implement an EE plan, it is every employee’s responsibility to know where to draw a line between unfair treatment and mere misunderstandings.

The purpose of the plan is to enable the employer “to achieve reasonable progress towards Employment Equity“, to assist in eliminating unfair discrimination in the workplace, and to achieve equitable representation of employees from designated groups by means of affirmative action measures.

According to the Labour Relations Act (LRA), every employee has the right not to be unfairly dismissed and subjected to unfair labour practice.  However, the employees must be up to speed with what ‘unfair’ in this context means.

In addition, understanding the ins-and-outs of the EE is beneficial to both the employer and employees. Employment Act undoubtedly extends beyond unfair treatment and with a cognizant plan, both the employer and employee can positively benefit.

For employers, it is of extreme importance to keep in mind the major legislation, BBBEE, which affects a number of entities. BBBEE is supported by and intertwined with the EE which is one of the seven pillars of the BBBEE scorecard and in order to ensure a good scorecard, the business has to show compliance.

Business Lab has been successfully working with companies, providing them with comprehensive business advice and compliance consultancy. We entirely understand the dynamics associated with Employment Equity and how the lack of understanding of the concept has caused many entities and their employees unnecessary woes.

Contact us on marketing@eskilz.co.za and book your non-obligatory meeting and proposal tailor made to your business needs and compliance gaps.