Nontobeko Moimane 24 March 2022

On Tuesday, 15 March 2022, the Social Justice and Transformation department hosted an online training session to give staff deeper insights into the Employment Equity Act (EEA).

The main purpose of the VUT training session was to equip staff members with information and guidelines about regulations and to understand what is expected of them.

The training was facilitated by Mr Pieter du Toit from Employment Equity Compliance Management Services (EECMS).  Participants included members of the newly constituted Employment Equity and Diversity Committee, staff and line managers.

The EEA aims to achieve equity in the workplace by promoting equal employment opportunities and fair treatment by eliminating unfair discrimination. It ensures the implementation of affirmative action measures to redress the disadvantages experienced by designated groups in the workplace.

Topics covered in the training were:

—  Prohibition of Unfair Discrimination

–          No person may be unfairly discriminated against based on employment policy or practice.

–          It is not unfair to promote affirmative action consistent with the Act, to prefer or exclude any person based on an inherent job requirement.

—  Medical Testing:

–          It is permissible only when legislation requires testing or when this is justifiable for various reasons.

–          HIV testing is prohibited unless such testing is deemed to be justifiable by the Labour Court (HIV Policy still to be discussed).

—  Powers of Labour inspectors

–          Labour Inspectors have the authority to enter, question, and inspect as provided for in sections 65 and 66 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.

—  Undertaking to comply

–          Should the Labour Inspector have reasonable grounds to believe that an employer has failed to comply with its obligations in terms of the Act, the Inspector will obtain a written undertaking to enforce compliance within a specified period.

—  Compliance order

–          A Labour Inspector might issue a compliance order if a designated employer failed to comply with sections 16, 17, 19, 22, 24, 26 or 35.

Sections related to the Act were elaborated on and explained in detail; such as sections 13, 15-27, and 43.

The session ended with a question-and-answer session which enabled staff to familiarise themselves with the Act.