On 1 February 2024, the Minister of Employment and Labour published draft regulations on the proposed sectorial numerical targets for public comment.

In 2023, the President signed the Employment Equity Amendment Bill, 2020 into law but did not promulgate its commencement date. The most significant amendments to be introduced by the Employment Equity Amendment Act is that the Minister will be provided the power to set sector-specific employment equity targets that designated employers will be required to comply with. Click here to read about the changes to the Employment Equity Act.

The Draft Regulations on the Proposed Sectorial Numerical Targets are the second set of regulations that the Minister has published proposing the sectorial numerical targets for the identified economic sectors.

In May 2023, the Minister published the Draft Employment Equity Regulations for public comment. These regulations listed the proposed economic sectors and the sectorial numerical targets that each designated employer operating in any of the economic sectors would be required to comply with in each of their occupational levels. National and provincial sectorial numerical targets were proposed for each of the economic sectors.

The Draft Regulations on the Proposed Sectorial Numerical Targets proposed revised sectorial numerical targets. The sectorial numerical targets remain 5-year milestones towards achieving the equitable representation of the different designated groups within each occupational level of an employer's workforce. The Draft Regulations on the Proposed Sectorial Numerical Targets propose the following changes to the previous draft regulations:

  • an overall sectorial numerical target will be set for the designated groups instead of specific targets for each individual race group in a particular economic sector;
  • the proposed sectorial numerical targets are applicable nationally; and
  • compliance with the sectorial numerical targets is not absolute.

The Draft Regulations on the Proposed Sectorial Numerical Targets permit designated employers to rely on justifiable/reasonable grounds to justify their non-compliance with the sectorial numerical targets. These justifiable/reasonable grounds include insufficient recruitment opportunities, insufficient promotion opportunities, insufficient target individuals from designated groups with relevant qualification, skills and experience, CCMA awards/court orders, transfer of business, mergers and acquisitions, and impact on business economic circumstances.

The Draft Regulations on the Proposed Sectorial Numerical Targets incorporates the terms of the settlement agreement that the Department of Employment and Labour, and Solidarity in terms of which the parties settled Solidarity's complaint to the International Labour Organisation in response to the amendments to the Employment Equity Act.

The Draft Regulations on the Proposed Sectorial Numerical Targets are open for public comment for 90 days, which lapses on 1 May 2024.

Employers are encouraged to review the draft regulations and to make any representations that they may have on the content of the regulations, particularly the proposed sectorial numerical targets.

This bulletin was written by partner Daphney Willem and candidate attorney Thato Motingwe.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.