The Department of Labour is targeting a 25 percent increase in the number of employment equity (EE) reports to be analysed for the current reporting cycle - and to achieve this it will this month embark on a national roadshow hosting a series of workshops with stakeholders.
Department of Labour EE Advisory Unit assistant director and project leader of the roadshows Zoleka Ntshoza said it was imperative to host the roadshows to create awareness in relation compliance with the law and help employers on how to follow requirements of the Act. She said the goal was to promote equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through the elimination of unfair discrimination.
In the EE reporting for 2011 only larger employees, those employing more than 150 employees are expected to submit their EE reports. The EE Unit of the Department of Labour plans to analyse 4 211 EE reports compared with 3 369 reports in the 2009 reporting period.
The EE reporting for 2011 will exclude smaller employees, those that employ between 50 and 149 people because they report bi-annually. Submissions for both manual and online submissions opened on September 1. The closing date for manual submission is 03 October 2011 and online submission 16 January 2012.
Ntshoza said there had been a renewed sense of enthusiasm by companies to report on their EE status especially using the electronic medium. Ntshoza attributed the growth in reporting to government’s policy in relation to initiatives such as black economic empowerment which serves as one of requirement for doing business with government.
She further said the focus for the 2011 EE roadshows is to promote and gather public comments on the ‘Draft Revised Code of Good Practice on HIV and Aids in the World of Work and Employment and EE reporting requirements for 2011’. She said this theme also dovetails with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) programmes and objectives of eliminating HIV/Aids in the workplace.
According to Ntshoza another feature of the roadshows was to encourage designated employers (those who employ 50 or more) on measures to adopt for successful EE reporting particularly using the on-line reporting.
Ntshoza said these roadshows are targeting employers, heads of departments, managers, human resource practitioners, consultative forum members, EE managers, practitioners, trade unions and employees.
Presentations at the interactive seminars will be conducted by Department of Labour officials for free.
The Protea Hotel in Kimberley, Northern Cape and Orion Hotel in Rustenburg, North West respectively will simultaneous play host to the inaugural seminars on September 13. All the seminars will start at 10am-13:00.
The next set of seminars on September 14 which will be held simultaneously at Protea Hotel Highveld in Emalahleni (Witbank) and Meropa Casino in Polokwane, Limpopo. This will be followed by seminars on September 15 at Welkom Inn in Welkom, Free State and on September 16 at Protea Hotel in Bloemfontein, Free State.
Still on September 15 a seminar will be held in Port Elizabeth and on September 16 King David Hotel in East London, Eastern Cape will host seminars respectively. The focus on September 20 will shift to Grand West Hotel Cape Town in the Western Cape. This will be followed by a seminar at Golden Horse Casino in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal and this will be followed by another seminar on September 21 at Durban’s Olive Convention.
The roadshows will culminate in Gauteng with seminars on September 22 at Pretoria City Hall and on September 23 in Johannesburg at Woodmead’s Cedar Park.
The seminar’s comes amid the recent release of the 11th Commission on Employment Equity (CEE) Annual Report which covered the period from 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011. The report showed that a total of 18 534 reports were received and 16 698 of those were analysed covering more than 5,2-million employees.
The report covered sectors which include Retail and Motor Trade/Repair Service; Community/Social/Personal Services; Electricity, Gas and Water; Mining and Quarrying; anufacturing and; Wholesale Trade/Commercial Agents/Allied Services.
In this year’s report Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant expressed her aghast at the snail pace in transforming South Africa’s workplace saying the ‘dark mark’ calls for drastic measures from all socio-economic partners.
Oliphant said it was disturbing to note that while black people accounted for approximately 86 percent of employees covered in the latest reports analysed, they only accounted for 16,9 percent at Top management and 35,9 percent at the Senior Management level.
The report showed that in terms of EAP in South Africa Africans account for more than 77 percent, while Coloured account for 11 percent, with Indians more than three percent and Whites more than 12 percent.
The CEE said Whites still dominate with 73,1 percent at the Top Management level, which is nearly six times their EAP and approximately threes times the representation of the cumulative sum of Blacks combined at this level. The Whites’ dominant status also prevails in other senior management and professional categories.
The report profiles the current status of employment equity in relation to workforce profile, workforce movements and skills development in terms of race, gender and disability. The main emphasis is on the four upper occupational levels which include Top Management, Senior Management, Professionally Qualified and Skilled levels.
The minister said it was important to highlight the fact that data presented indicate that White females and Indians amongst the designated groups have benefited more from Affirmative Action.
The report concluded that while progress over the years has been gradual and slow with Whites continuing to dominate in the three uppermost occupational levels, there were encouraging signs in this reporting period of an increase in the number of reports received.
The department expects on average more than 200 delegates to attend each of the free seminars.
Enquiries:
Tel: 012 309 4164
Cell: 084 76 95 834
E-mail: zoleka.ntshoza@labour.gov.za
Enquiries on Roadshows in the Free State:
Wisane Mavasa
Cell: 082 806 1351
Department of Labour EE Directorate will be embarking on annual EE roadshows
