Employers gain flexibility in choosing EAP demographics for employment equity plans"

EMPLOYERS will have the option to use the applicable national or regional Economically Active Population (EAP) population as an instrument when developing employment equity (EE) plans. 

At a recent EE workshop held in Sandton, Department of Employment and Labour deputy director, Masilo Lefika said employers will have this option when developing EE Plans and setting annual numerical targets in their workplaces.

He added that when developing EE Plans and setting annual numerical targets in their workplaces in terms of legislation, designated employers must take into account the workforce profile, the relevant five-year sectoral numerical targets, and the applicable EAP.

“The five-year sectoral numerical targets are key milestones towards achieving the equitable representation of the different designated groups within the four upper occupational levels in an employer’s workforce in relation to the demographics of the applicable EAP, and for persons with disabilities,” said Lefika. 

This comes as the Department is forging ahead with legislative amendments to the Employment Equity Act (EEA).

These amendments have their origins in 2019, when the Department, in collaboration with the Commission for Employment Equity (CEE), began sector-specific engagements aimed at setting employment equity (EE) targets. The goal was to accelerate transformation in the workplace. These efforts culminated in the Employment Equity Amendment Act No. 4 of 2022, which officially came into effect on January 1, 2025.

However the changes have been met with mixed reactions as the DA has taken government to court to challenge the amendments, while others have raised concerns about applying national targets at the expense of regional demographics. 

According to Lefika, a designated employer will incur "no penalty or any form of disadvantage if there are reasonable grounds to justify its failure to comply with any target".

Trade union federation Cosatu welcomed the option for employers to choose which demographics to apply when setting their targets. 

“Cosatu engaged with the Department of Employment and Labour extensively on the 2023 amendments to the Employment Equity Act at Nedlac as well as with Parliament. We support these amendments, in particular the provisions recognising regional demographic diversity and enabling employers to utilise them or national demographics depending on their own footprint as an employer. This is critical as the demographics of Limpopo differ widely from those of the Western and Northern Cape and those differ significantly from KwaZulu-Natal.

“Enabling employers to utilise regional demographics is important to ensure local workers enjoy full worker opportunities and also to ensure workplaces represent South Africa’s full diversity. This is especially important for provinces like the Western and Northern Cape where coloured workers are the largest demographic group and similarly in provinces like Gauteng and KZN. Employment equity includes all South Africans, of all racial, gender and disability categories,” Cosatu Parliamentary Coordinator, Matthew Parks said. 

The National Coloured Congress (NCC), which had called to meet with minister Nomakhosazana Meth over the issue, added that without proper consideration of provincial demographics, it risks the further marginalising of Coloured communities. 

“The Constitutional Court has ruled you can’t implement national demographics, regionally. All the labour department is doing is making it easier for businesses with vested interests to discriminate. As the custodian of employment equity, the labour department should do its job,” NCC leader, Fadiel Adams said. 

Cape Times