How to: Complete Employment Equity reports, forms and records

All designated organisations must complete the EEA forms in order to comply with the Employment Equity Act, there are a total of 14, EEA forms that the organisations must complete or implement in order to satisfy compliance with the act.

EEA 1

Employment Equity Employee declaration of nationality, race and gender

An employee declaration of nationality, race and gender as per Section 19 of the Employment Equity Act 1998 (Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998). All employees must complete this document and declare the nationality, race and gender. The employee must also declare whether he is disabled or not if the employee declares that he or she is disabled medical proof must be submitted and kept with the EEA1.

The EEA1 records are used for both the quantitative and qualitative analysis and must be stored with the employee documentation and records. The EEA1 must also be available for inspection by the Department of labour when required. If the employee refuses to sign or complete the EEA1, the employment equity committee may complete an EEA1 on the employee’s behalf using any data at hand to determine the employee’s designated group status. The employment equity committee may sign EEA1 on the behalf of the employee, however, a record of the employee’s refusal to complete & the document must be kept with the EEA1.

EEA 2

Employment Equity Organisation Profile Analysis. As per Section 19 of the Employment Equity Act 1998 (Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998), according to the Department of employment in labour this is a “snapshot” of the current and future employment equity transformation profile of the organisation. The employment equity committee must make realistic and reasonable projections targets in terms of transformation in the organisation. These projected targets will be used by the Department of employment and labour as the basis for transformation in the organisation, and if the organisation fails to comply with the transformation targets and goals they may contravene the act and can be fined by the Department of employment and labour.

EEA 3

Summary of the Employment Equity Act. As per section 25(1) of the Act, requires that designated employers display a summary of the Act EEA3 at their place of work. If the organisation chooses not to buy a Department of Labour poster they may download EEA3, print it and display it on any notice board at the place of work. It is usually required that employees have access to the document in privacy, so it is suggested that the document be placed on a noticeboard in the canteen or dressing rooms of the employees.

EEA 4

Employment Equity Organisation Remuneration Analysis. What are the Income differentials as per Section 27 of the Employment Equity Act 1998, this report indicates the remuneration differences between individuals on the same levels in the same occupations? The EEA4 document is very important and the implementation committee and the financial manager or CFO of the organisation must have the key to calculate the remuneration of all employees. This includes all benefits received by the employees.

EEA 5

Employment Equity Compliance Undertaking by Employer. A written undertaking from the employer in terms of Section 36 to comply with the requirements of the Employment Equity Act, 55 of 1998, as amended, issued by the Designated Employer to the Department Employment and Labour Inspector. This document will usually contain a time and date by which the organisation must comply with the issues identified by the Department of employment and labour.

The EEA5 is usually issued by the employer to the Department Employment Labour as an undertaking to comply after the employer received a verbal warning to comply with section 36 of the Employment equity act. A labour inspector may request and obtain a written undertaking from a designated employer to comply with the provisions of Section 36 (1) within a specified period. Failure to comply with this undertaking may result in the Director-General applying to the Labour Court, to make this undertaking, or any part thereof, an order of the Labour Court in terms of Section 36(2).

When receiving such a compliance notice it is wise to contact us immediately within 24 hours.

EEA 6

Employment Equity Compliance Order by the Department of Labour. The EEA6 failure to comply with the Compliance order is issued to an employer who has failed to comply with sections 16, 17, 19, 22, 24, 25 or 26 of the Employment Equity Act, 55 of 1998, as amended. Failure to comply with this compliance order may result in the Director-General applying to the Labour Court, to make this compliance order an order of the Labour Court.

The employer must display a copy of this order prominently at a place accessible to the affected employees at each workplace named in it in terms of Section 25(2)(b).

EEA7

The Employment Equity Director-General Review Assessment form. The EEA7 form is usually issued by the Director-General of the Department of Labour to the designated employer. This form compels designated employers to comply with Section 43 of the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 as amended. This form contains the format for the Director-General Review of the designated employer’s employment equity plan.

The Department of Labour director-general requires all designated employers to use this form. All designated employers who are subjected to the Director-General Review are required to submit information in terms of section 43 of the Employment Equity Act, 55 of 1998 as amended within the specific time allocated.

It requires the employer to submit the following documents of the organisation:

All numerical analysis and assessments.
Employment equity plan.
Minutes of meetings.
Employment Equity Committee records and documents.
All reports, records, books, correspondence, policies, procedures, information and documents proving that the organisation complies with the Equity Employment Equity Act.

EEA 8

CEE (Commission for Employment Equity) Analysis. Statistics South Africa provides demographic data using Quarterly Labour Force Surveys (QLFS) from time to time. The Quarterly Labour Force Surveys provide statistics on the national and provincial Economically Active Population (EAP) in terms of race and gender. Employers must access this information directly from Statistics South Africa. This information must be used by employers when consulting with employees, conducting analysis and preparing and implementing Employment Equity Plans. This information is reviewed annually and also made available in the Commission for Employment Equity (CEE) Annual Reports, which may be accessed by clicking this link. Commission of Employment Equity EAP analysis

EEA 9

Grading System Analysis for Employment Equity. Where the organisation does not have a grading or job evaluation system, it must then use the EEA9 and perform the grading or job evaluation system. However, in the case where the organisation already has a recognised grading or job evaluation system in place, it may use the system. Designated employers must use the EEA1 form to perform a job evaluation or grading system to measure jobs according to their content and establish the comparative worth between jobs. This annexe provides a table of equivalent occupational levels that may be used by employers when completing the EEA2 and EEA4 forms.

EEA 10

Progress of Employment Equity Transformation. Summary of the employment equity progress report for public companies to include in their Annual Financial Report.

EEA 11

Request Access to Employment Equity Information

Designated employers may use this form to request the submitted Employment Equity Report (Form EEA2) of other employers from the Department of Employment and Labour. It is issued in terms of Section 21(5) of the Employment Equity Act, 55 of 1998 as amended.

EEA 12

Employment Equity Organisation Barrier, Policy Practises and EAP Analysis

Designated employers are expected to complete EEA12 in order to comply with Section 19 of the Employment Equity Act, which must include an analysis of:

Workforce profile
Policies
Procedures
Practices
Workplace environment
Recruitment
Advertising positions
Selection criteria
Appointments
Job classification and grading
Remuneration and benefits
Terms & conditions of employment
Work environment and facilities
Training and development
Performance and evaluation

Section 19(1) of the EEA requires a designated employer to conduct an analysis as prescribed, of its employment policies, practices, procedures and the working environment in order to identify employment barriers which adversely affect people from designated groups.

Succession & experience planning
Disciplinary measures
Retention of designated groups
Corporate culture
Reasonable accommodation
HIV&AIDS prevention and wellness programmes
Assigned senior manager(s) to manage EE implementation
Budget allocation in support of employment equity goals
Time off for employment equity consultative committee to meet

Section 19(2) indicates that the analysis must include a profile to determine the under-representation of people from the designated groups in the various occupational levels in the workforce.

Top management
Senior management
Professionally qualified and experienced specialists and mid-management
Skilled technical and academically qualified workers, junior management, supervisors, foremen, and superintendents
Semi-skilled and discretionary decision-making
Unskilled and defined decision-making

EEA 13

Employment Equity Plan. Employment Equity plan (Section 20) provides a clear and proactive guide to how the organisation intends to transform its employment equity. The organisation must complete a workplace and transformation barrier analysis and compile a clear action plan on how to remove the barriers to transformation in the organisation.

A complete Workforce analysis and redistribution and transformation plan must thus be compiled addressing each barrier in the organisation. Analysing and describing in detail the transformation process in place in the organisation, as per Sections 20 & 23 of the Employment Equity Act 1998 (Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998).

EEA 14

Failure to Report on Employment Equity. If the organisation is not able to or, required to, submit an Employment Equity report they may use the EEA14 to notify the Department of Employment and Labour on or before the 30th of August annually. This means that the organisation will not submit the EEA2 and EEA4 for the NEXT reporting year. However, if the organisation were required to report for the current year it must still submit the EEA2 and EEA4.

This form is issued in terms of Section 21(4A) of the Employment Equity Amendment Employment Equity Act, 2013 (Employment Equity Act No. 47 of 2013) for designated employers to notify the Director-General if they are unable to submit EE Report(s).

For Reference

SECTION 16. Consultation with employees

16. (1) A designated employer must take reasonable steps to consult and attempt to reach agreement on the matters referred to in section 17-

(a) with a representative trade union representing members at the workplace and its employees or representatives nominated by them; or

(b) if no representative trade union represents members at the workplace, with its employees or representatives nominated by them.

(2) The employees or their nominated representatives with whom an employer consults in terms of subsection (1)(a) and (b), taken as a whole, must reflect the interests of-

(a) employees from across all occupational levels of the employer’s workforce;

(b) employees from designated groups; and

(3) This section does not affect the obligation of any designated employer in terms of section 86 of the Labour Relations Act to consult and reach consensus with a workplace forum on any of the matters referred to in section 17 of this Act.

SECTION 17. Matters for consultation

17. A designated employer must consult the parties referred to in section 16 concerning-

(a) the conduct of the analysis referred to in section 19;

(b) the preparation and implementation of the employment equity plan referred to in section 20; and

SECTION 19. Analysis

19. (1) A designated employer must collect information and conduct an analysis, as prescribed, of its employment policies, practices, procedures and the working environment, in order to identify employment barriers which adversely affect people from designated groups.

(2) An analysis conducted in terms of subsection (1) must include a proﬁle, as prescribed, of the designated employer’s workforce within each occupational level in order to determine the degree of underrepresentation of people from designated groups in various occupational levels in that employer’s workforce.

SECTION 20. Employment equity plan

20. (1) A designated employer must prepare and implement an employment equity plan which will achieve reasonable progress towards employment equity in that employer’s workforce.

(2) An employment equity plan prepared in terms of subsection (1) must slate-

(a) the objectives to be achieved for each year of the plan;

(b) the affirmative action measures to be implemented as required by section 15(2);

(c) where underrepresentation of people from designated groups has been identiﬁed by the analysis, the numerical goals* to achieve the equitable representation of suitably qualiﬁed people from designated groups within each occupational level in the workforce, the timetable within which this is to be achieved, and the strategies intended to achieve those goals; (* Guidelines regarding the factors to be taken into account in determining numerical goals will be included in a Code of Good Practice- However, the factors listed in section 42(a) (Assessment of compliance) are relevant to selling numerical goals in each organisation.)

(d) the timetable for each year of the plan for the achievement of goals and objectives other than numerical goals;

(e) the duration of the plan, which may not be shorter than one year or longer than five years;

(f) the procedures that will be used to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the plan and whether reasonable progress is being made towards implementing employment equity;

(g) the internal procedures to resolve any dispute about the interpretation or implementation of the plan;

(h) the persons in the workforce, including senior managers, responsible for monitoring and implementing the plan; and

(i) any other prescribed matter.

(3) For purposes of this Act. a person may be suitably qualified for a job as a result of anyone of, or any combination of that person’s-

(a) formal qualifications;

(b) prior learning;

(d) capacity to acquire, within a reasonable time. the ability to do the job.

(4) When determining whether a person is suitably qualified for a job, an employer must-

(a) review all the factors listed in subsection (3); and

(b) determine whether that person has the ability to do the job in terms of any one of, or any combination of those factors.

(5) In making a determination under subsection (4), an employer may not unfairly discriminate against a person solely on the grounds of that person’s lack of relevant experience.

(6) An employment equity plan may contain any other measures that are consistent with the purposes of this Act.

(7) The Director-General may apply to the Labour Court to impose a ﬁne in accordance with Schedule 1, if a designated employer fails to prepare or implement an employment equity plan in terms of this section.

SECTION 21. Report*

(* The first report will refer to the initial development of and consultation around an employment equity plan. The subsequent reports will detail the progress made in implementing the employment equity plan.)

21. (1) A designated employer must-

(a) submit a report to the Director-General once every year, on the first working day of October on the ﬁrst working day of October or on such other date as may be prescribed.

(3) Despite subsection (1), an employer that becomes a designated employer on or after the ﬁrst working day of April but before the ﬁrst working day of October, must only submit its ﬁrst report on the ﬁrst working day of October in the following year or on such other date contemplated in subsection (1).

(4) The report referred to in subsection (1) must contain the prescribed information and must be signed by the chief executive officer of the designated employer.

(4A) An employer that is not able to submit a report to the Director-General by the ﬁrst working day of October in terms of subsection (1) must notify the Director-General in writing before the last working day of August in the same year giving reasons for its inability to do so.

(4B) The Director-General may apply to the Labour Court to impose a ﬁne in accordance with Schedule 1, if an employer—

(a) fails to submit a report in terms of this section;

(b) fails to notify and give reasons to the Director-General in terms of subsection (4A); or

(c) has notiﬁed the Director-General in terms of subsection (4A) but the reasons are false or invalid. (6) Every report prepared in terms of this section is a public document.

SECTION 22. Publication of report

22. (1) Every designated employer that is a public company must publish a summary of a report required by section 21 in that employer’s annual financial report.

(2) When a designated employer within any organ of state has produced a report in terms of section 21, the Minister responsible for that employer must table that report in Parliament.

SECTION 23. Successive employment equity plans

23. Before the end of the term of its current employment equity plan, a designated employer must prepare a subsequent employment equity plan.

SECTION 24. Designated employer must assign manager

24. (1) Every designated employer must-

(a) assign one or more senior managers to take responsibility for monitoring and implementing an employment equity plan:

(b) provide the managers with the authority and means to perform their functions; and

(2) The assignment of responsibility to a manager in terms of subsection (1) does not relieve the designated employer of any duty imposed by this Act or any other law.

SECTION 25. Duty to inform

25. (1) An employer must display at the workplace where it can be read by employees a notice in the prescribed form, informing them about the provisions of this Act*.

* Regulations may. under section 55, be made containing a standard notice, in all official languages, summarising the provisions of this Act, which all employers should display in every workplace.

(2) A designated employer must. in each of its workplaces, place in prominent places that are accessible to all employees-

(a) the most recent report submitted by that employer to the Director-General:

(b) any compliance order, arbitration award or order of the Labour Court concerning the provisions of this Act in relation to that employer: and

(3) An employer who has an employment equity plan, must make a copy of the plan available to its employees for copying and consultation.

SECTION 26. Duty to keep records

26. An employer must establish and, for the prescribed period, maintain records in respect of its workforce, its employment equity plan and any other records relevant to its compliance with this Act.

SECTION 27. Income differentials and discrimination

27. (1) Every designated employer, when reporting in terms of section 21(1), must submit a statement, as prescribed, to the Employment Conditions Commission established by section 59 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, on the remuneration and beneﬁts received in each occupational level of that employer’s workforce.

(2) Where disproportionate income differentials, or unfair discrimination by virtue of a difference in terms and conditions of employment contemplated in section 6(4), are reﬂected in the statement contemplated in subsection (1), a designated employer must take measures to progressively reduce such differentials subject to such guidance as may be given by the Minister as contemplated in subsection (4).

(3) The measures referred to in subsection (2) may include-

(a) collective bargaining:

(b) compliance with sectoral determinations made by the Minister in terms of section 51 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act;

(d) relevant measures contained in skills development legislation;

(e) other measures that are appropriate in the circumstances.

(4) The Employment Conditions Commission must research and investigate norms and benchmarks for proportionate income differentials and advise the Minister on appropriate measures for reducing disproportional differentials,

(5) The Employment Conditions Commission may not disclose any information pertaining to individual employees or employers.

(6) Parties to a collective bargaining process may request the information contained in the statement contemplated in subsection (1) for collective bargaining purposes subject to section 16(4) and (5) of the Labour Relations Act.

SECTION 36. Undertaking to comply

36. (1) A labour inspector may request and obtain a written undertaking from a designated employer to comply with paragraph (a), (b), (f), (h), (i) or (j) within a speciﬁed period, if the inspector has reasonable grounds to believe that the employer has failed to—

(a) consult with employees as required by section 16;

(b) conduct an analysis as required by section 19;

(f) publish its report as required by section 22;

(h) assign responsibility to one or more senior managers as required by section 24;

(i) inform its employees as required by section 25; or

(j) keep records as required by section 26.

(2) If a designated employer does not comply with a written undertaking within the period stated in the written undertaking, the Labour Court may, on application by the Director-General, make the undertaking, or any part of the undertaking, an order of the Labour Court.

SECTION 43. Review by Director-General

43. (I) The Director-General may conduct a review to determine whether an employer is complying with this Act.

(2) In order to conduct the review the Director-General may-

(a) request an employer to submit to the Director-General a copy of its current analysis or employment equity plan;

(b) request an employer to submit to the Director-General any book. record, correspondence, document or information that could reasonably be relevant to the review of the employer’s compliance with this Act;

(c) request a meeting with an employer to discuss its employment equity plan, the implementation of its plan and any matters related to its compliance with this Act; or

(d) request a meeting with any-

(i) employee or trade union consulted in terms of section 16;

(ii) workplace forum; or

(iii) other person who may have information relevant to the review.

How to: Complete Employment Equity reports, forms and records