Session 3 : Constitution Setting Exercise

CONSTITUTION: EMPLOYMENT EQUITY COMMITTEE

1. Introduction

The … Employment Equity Committee has been established to give effect to the provisions of the: - Employment Equity Act (Act no 55 of 1998) – Amended 2014 - Skills Development Act (Act no 97 of 1998)

2. Purpose

2.1. The purpose of this committee is to ensure that: - Sufficient consultation takes place with representatives of all employees of …, in the development of Employment Equity and Skills Development Plans - Processes are fair to all employees, and meet legislative requirements. - Plans are both achievable, and make good business sense.

All proposals and suggestions made by this Committee will be forwarded to the EE Leader, who will in turn consult with the …..

3. Roles and Responsibilities

 To represent all employees of … in the interests of Employment Equity.  To make recommendations to the management of ….. regarding the implementation of both the Employment Equity and Workplace Skills Plans.  To act as a representative channel for all employees at …. .  To identify Employment Equity and Affirmative action concerns.  To investigate any charges of discrimination and / or harassment of any kind, and report any findings to the EE Committee for recommendations.  To act as the champions of cultural and organisational change by behaving in accordance with the code of conduct as stipulated in this constitution.  To provide the EE Leader with Quarterly Progress Reports on the implementation of Skills Development and Employment Equity …..  To act as advisors and give input on Interview and Selection panels for positions recruited for at ….

4. Composition / Membership

4.1 Selection

The committee will consist of a fair representation of all designated as well as non-designated groups, and all job levels.

EE Committee Constitution Page 1 of 5 4.2 Election:

The EE Committee is effective is effective for a period of office of 2 years and will be elected in the following way:  Employees will be given the opportunity to nominate colleagues, or themselves to become members of the committee  Up to … staff and management places will be filled on the Committee. The ..th place will be automatically filled by the Employment Equity Manager, and the ..th place will be left open for secondment if the need arises.  The Employment Equity manager will ensure that a fair representation of each of the designated, non-designated groups and job categories have been nominated, and if not, will request further nominations to fill these categories  A person who has been voted in as a member of the Committee may decline membership if he/she wishes, and may also be given reasonable time to consider whether to accept the position or not.  If a Committee member changes his/her designation or category (eg. becomes unionised, becomes a manager, becomes non-unionised etc), a new member may be elected to fill his/her place on the committee, and that member may remain on the committee until the end of his/her term, when he/she may be re-elected in his/her new category.

5. Offices:

5.1 Chairperson The committee will elect a chairperson. This person will co- ordinate and facilitate the meetings The chairperson will also act as the liaison between the committee and the Employment Equity Manager.

5.2 Vice Chairperson

The committee will elect a Vice- Chairperson who will act on the chairperson’s behalf, in the event of the chairperson being unable to fulfil his/ her duties.

5.3 Secretary

The committee will elect a Secretary who will be responsible for taking minutes, and distributing minutes of the meeting.

5.4 Period of Office

This will be for twelve months. Officers may be re-elected for a further one year period. In the event that more than 50% of the Committee members would like a change / replacement in any of the above office-bearers, this will be communicated via the EE Manager, and re- election of that office-bearer will take place.

In the event of an election of a new committee (more than 60% new members), it is recognised that most of the members may be unfamiliar with the Employment Equity consultation process, the roles of the Committee as a whole, and the values each of the committee participants can add. In this event the first six months of operation of a new committee will be a learning period during which training and familiarisation will need to take place. For this reason the position of Chairperson will be finalised six months after the election of the new committee.

EE Committee Constitution Page 2 of 5 6. Number and Frequency of Meetings

 Meetings shall be held quarterly (every three months). In the event of a new committee being formed, meetings should be held more regularly in order to familiarise the members with Employment Equity roles and allow for necessary planning and consolidation.  Provision shall be made for ad-hoc meetings as the need arises.  A schedule of dates for future meetings is proposed for planning meetings

7. Attendance

 A quorum of … of members must be present for a meeting to be convened.  If a member of the Committee does not attend meetings regularly, the Committee will reserve the right to evict that member from the Committee (See Clause 8)  Apologies must be directed to the Chairperson telephonically or in writing, no later than 24 hours before the meeting.  Minutes will be distributed within a week of the meeting.  Any members who did not receive the minutes are responsible to obtain these before the next meeting.

8. Termination of Membership:

 When a member resigns from the company, he / she must advise the chairperson, giving one month’s notice  Members may resign from the committee for any reason. The notice period is one month.  When a member has not attended two consecutive meetings, his / her membership will cease, unless, in the view of the committee there was a good reason for this.  In the event of termination, a replacement member, fitting the same profile as the member who has left, will be elected through the nomination and voting process.

9. Code of Conduct

Members of the committee shall be committed to the following code of conduct:

9.1 Communication of Information:  Committee members must respect the privacy and confidentiality of information that may be discussed in the meetings.  The methods for giving feeding back to staff about decisions made in meetings must be confirmed and clarified with all present in that meeting, before any communication takes place back to staff. Members must all adhere to decisions made regarding the method and timing of staff feedback.  Formal mechanisms will be available to enable staff to raise issues with committee members.

EE Committee Constitution Page 3 of 5 9.2 General Conduct:

9.2.1 Members will be committed to and focussed on their purpose as Committee members 9.2.2 Members will undertake to contribute positively and constructively in meetings. 9.2.3 Members will be honest in feedback and be respectful of one another. 9.2.4 Members will adhere to and be guided by Company changes, Company policies and procedures, legislation and this constitution. 9.2.5 Members will ask for others views, as well as volunteering their own. 9.2.6 Members will use questioning a lot, not presume or label others, and will listen respectfully to others’ points of view. 9.2.7 Members will be action orientated and results driven. 9.2.8 Members will appreciate that each person has an equal right and an obligation in terms of their membership of the committee, regardless of their position in the company 9.2.9 Members will act as Champions of Skill Development / Employment Equity and actively assist with change initiatives in the organisation. 9.2.10 Members will seek to update themselves with respect to the Skills Development and Employment Equity legislation. 9.2.11 Members will commit to representing the people they are chosen to present 9.2.12 Members will use information made available to them, effectively, appropriately and for its intended purpose, respecting the confidential rights of others. 9.2.13 Members will have respect for other members of the committee by observing basic meeting rules, i.e. No late coming, no interruptions, no sub-meetings, no cell phones or leaving early.

Finally, Committee members must recognise that this is a learning process for all, and that the Committee will evolve through attending the scheduled meetings regularly.

If any Committee member behaves in a way that is in contravention of the above code, the Committee reserves the right to call on the Employment Equity Manager for advice, and remove the member from the committee if necessary.

10. Mandate

The Committee is not mandated to negotiate over wages / working conditions, as there are specialised processes in the Company dealing with these.

If however there is an issue raised by employees the Committee member represents, it can be brought to the Committee’s attention and then forwarded to the appropriate authority for response.

The committee is mandated to monitor and assist in the implementation of the following:

EE Committee Constitution Page 4 of 5  Internal Promotion and Appointment practices, policies and statistics  Career Development programmes and strategies for succession planning  Training and Development  Affirmative active goals (numerical targeting) for the company  Highlighting areas of subtle or indirect discrimination and harassment  Advocating and overseeing the implementation of Company strategic objectives regarding organisational development

Members of this committee undertake not to raise personal grievances in the committee, other than to illustrate issues which may have an impact on the successful design, implementation and maintenance of the Company’s Workplace Skills Plan and Equity Plan.

11. Disagreement

 The decision framework of the Committee is to reach consensus, and therefore decisions will be made on this basis  However, it is recognised that while the intention of the Committee is to consult with one another with the intention of reaching agreement, there may be times when disagreements do occur.  It is therefore on such occasions that the disagreements will be formally noted in the minutes of the meeting and that an internal mediator will be asked to facilitate a discussion over the disagreement in order to assist in finding a solution. This is to take place within one week of the meeting.  In the event that a solution is not found after a minimum of two meetings, the disagreement will be passed through to the Employment Equity Manager for mediation.  In the event that any dispute does not get resolved through the above procedures, the normal company dispute resolution procedures will apply.

12. Amendments

This constitution may be amended only by consensus of 80% of the EE Committee members.

EE Committee Constitution Page 5 of 5