Online EE reporting now open till 15 January 2018

Employers are as per the EE Act obliged to submit annually to the Department of Labour their employment equity reports regarding demographic profiles, gender representation and EE plans on how to address discrimination and inequity in the workplace.
If you are a designated employer (Agriculture: 50+ employees or turnover in access of R6m) you can do your online reporting from now till 15 January, 2019. (The R6m turnover will apparently fall away next year and reporting to be done online only)
Section 53 of the EE Act of 1998 relates to designated employers and employers who seek to do business with any organ of State, that they will have to apply for a certificate from the Minister confirming their compliance with the provisions of the Act – this in relation to prohibition of unfair discrimination, and the implementation of affirmative action measures for designated groups to achieve employment equity.
The Department of Labour’s Employment Equity Directorate on 2 October started the hosting of national public hearings on the Amendments to EE Act and the unveiling of draft EE regulations and its implications for South Africa’s workplaces.
The key objectives of the EE amendments are:
– To bring alignment between definitions, policy provisions and the administration systems and enhancing on the collection of data for the National Minimum Wage Commission,
– Introduction of provisions in the EE Amendment Bill and regulations for the consultation and setting of numerically based sector targets across various occupational levels to ensure an equitably represented workforce,
– To make reporting requirements easier for designated employers who are small employers, and
– Introduction of provisions and regulatory requirements for the promulgation of Section 53 to ensure employers financially benefiting from State contracts comply with the EE Act.
The Department of Labour has published the Employment Equity Amendment Bill and the Draft Employment Equity Regulations in the Government Gazette in response to the slow pace of transformation in the workplace. The Department will use the public hearings to elicit inputs to the amendments and proposed regulations.