Harsher punishment for non-compliance

THE Labour Department will seriously consider asking President Jacob Zuma to enact harsher punishment for companies failing to comply with employment equity laws.

Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant yesterday launched the Commission for Employment Equity’s annual report‚ which showed that top posts in the country are still held by white men.

“We challenge those who believe that the Employment Equity and affirmative action policies have gone past their sell-by date to read this commission’s report carefully and check if in all honesty it is really the time to scrap Employment Equity and affirmative action.

“Do they truly believe that we have achieved what the Employment Equity Act was set out to do?”

Oliphant said calls for the removal of these policies are absurd and premature. Instead‚ the government should seek harsher sanctions against those failing to comply‚ she suggested.

“The report once again points to the painfully slow pace of transformation in the labour market.”

To date 21 companies have been fined for non-compliance‚ more than half of which are JSE-listed.

“Commentators ridicule the maximum amount that an offending employer could be fined as too small to be a deterrent‚ as some employers simply budget for this in case they get caught.

“It is this state of affairs that leaves us with no option but to consider drafting in higher consequences for non-compliance.”

The report showed that in 2016 68.5% of top management positions were held by white people‚ 14.4% by black people‚ 8.9% by Indian people‚ 4.9% by coloured people and 3.4% by foreign nationals.

Men held 78% of top management positions and 66.7% of senior management positions.

White people held 58.1% of senior management positions‚ black people held 22.1%‚ Indian people held 10.6%‚ Coloured people held 7.7% and foreign nationals held 1.4%.

In the professionally qualified category 41.5% of positions are occupied by black people‚ 37.5% by white people‚ 9.7% by coloured people‚ 8.5% by Indian people and 2.8% by foreign nationals.

Technically skilled positions were mostly held by black people at 60.2%‚ followed by white people at 20.8%‚ coloured people at 11.5%‚ Indian people at 5.8% and foreign nationals at 1.8%.

Semi-skilled labour positions are mostly held by black people at 76.1%. At the unskilled level 83.2% of positions are held by black people.