Important Pointers for Reporting 2009

Important pointers for reporting – 2010

The following pointers should be taken in to account by employers in submitting their employment equity reports to the Department of Labour for the reporting period - October 2010.

1  Web addresses for reporting:

a.  www.labour.gov.za

b.  http:/ee.labour.gov.za/dmiso (only from 1 Sept 2009)

c.  helpline: 0860 101018

2  The Employment Equity Act has not been amended and the 2006 regulations have been repealed in toto.

3  Employers must use the forms provided in terms of the new general regulations 2009, as published on 14 July 2009.

4  The first years of reporting was seen by the DOL as educational. Since 2006 the approach has changed and the Director General started initiating the review procedure as provided by section 43 of the Act. The top 100 companies on the JSE have been selected for review and 104 companies have been randomly reviewed up to date.

5  Section 43 review procedure –

a.  The employer is randomly selected for review and the DG will inform the CEO via formal correspondence of the review.

b.  The DG will request information from the employer, which may consist of written plans or reports for current and previous reporting years, minutes of meetings, proof of analysis and consultations done, workforce profiles, records on movement of workforce, information on recruitment, termination, numerical goals and targets, skills development information and expenditure on skills levies, income differentials in all levels, race and gender disparities in determination of salaries and reasons, etc.

c.  The documents and information requested will be determined by the DG.

d.  A DG review committee will audit the documentation and inform the employer of the outcome of the review and supply the DOL with briefing notes.

e.  The review process is time based and the employers must keep to the deadlines set in documentation and correspondence.

f.  The DOL will then schedule a meeting with the employer and supply the employer with the DG recommendations and the date and time of expected compliance.

g.  Failure to comply may result in a Labour Court application against the Employer.

h.  Employers may object to the compliance order to the DG or the Labour Court in terms of section 43.

6  The following problem areas were identified in the reviews conducted by the DG up to date:

a.  The employment equity plans of employers are not part of their business plans, which in turn hampers the successful implementation of the plans. Employment equity should be a standing point on agendas and not only get attention at reporting time, which is indicative of problematic reports.

b.  Senior managers are not assigned as per legislation or the managers are not allocated appropriate and sufficient resources to perform the functions as set out in the Act.

c.  The use of consultants are not favoured as they provide a snapshot service and employers fail to follow up after the consultant has left.

d.  Lack of proper minutes of consultations and forum activities.

e.  Plans are drafted in a vacuum and do not form part of the analysis and auditing function. The audit and analysis must precede the plan.

f.  The DOL compares the report and the plan. The report must be in conjunction with the plan.

g.  Africans and Coloureds are not represented as expected.

h.  Disabled employees are under represented in all levels and low goals and targets are set for disabled employees.

i.  Insufficient measures are employed to accommodate disabled employees. Physical accommodation of the workplace such as ramps or facilities is not adequate.

j.  Employers do not apply the definition of “suitably qualified” adequately. They mainly concentrate on qualifications.

7  Reporting must be done as accurately as possible; - employers must keep to the same reporting format, at least for the duration of the plan. Errors will result in error letters to the employer.

8  The workforce profile is a snapshot of the workforce at a particular time and must be the same for every reporting period of the plan.

9  Take note of the new instructions to the regulations.

10  Reporting on the old regulation forms will be rejected.

11  Online reporting is favoured and the system populates itself. Pop ups will indicate incorrect information and the system stores the information from year to year.

12  Employers are advised to first save and print on line reports before submitting it. Once submitted, it cannot be changed

13  Employers should ensure that the trade name of the business or division is fully and correctly recorded at every reporting period.

14  Correspondence will reflect the employer’s EE registration number and correspondence will only be sent to the CEO and designated manager, not to consultants.

15  Employers must inform the DOL of changes to particulars and contact information of the CEO and the designated manager.

16  Employers must retain a signed copy of EE Report, even if they report electronically.

17  In the event of the CEO being absent, the DOL must be informed before the time and only a board resolution or appointment letter of the CEO will be accepted if a delegate of the CEO must sign in CEO’s absence.

18  User names and passwords will be sent to CEO and delegated managers only.

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