Understanding and applying the Employment Equity Act

This course is designed to give employers and employees an overview of the Employment Equity Act, together with a practical grasp on how to apply the Act in the workplace. The course includes identifying discrimination in the workplace, roles and functions of the equity committee and requirements for equity reporting. An Advocate of the High Court with ten years’ specialised experience in Labour Law presents this course.

 Course duration: One day

Modules

Unit 1: Overview of the Employment Equity Act 

• Purpose of the EE Act
• Application of the EE Act
  - Prohibition on unfair discrimination
  - Affirmative Action
• Monitoring and Enforcement under the EE Act

 Unit 2: Discrimination and the Employment Equity Act

• Understanding unfair discrimination
• Types of unfair discrimination
• Reasonable accommodation
• Areas where unfair discrimination may be encountered
• Assignment 1: Identify unfair discrimination
• Affirmative action measures
• Inherent requirements of the job
• Assignments 2 and 3 – Determine how to differentiate types of discrimination

 Unit 3: Medical and Psychological Testing 

• Prohibition on medical testing and exceptions
• HIV testing
• Psychological testing
• Relevant case law
• Assignment 4: Decide whether or  not  medical testing is permissible in the case studies presented

Unit 4: Affirmative Action and the Employment Equity Act

• Who are ‘designated employers’ ?
• Duties of designated employers
• The consultation process
• The Employment Equity Committee
  - Who should be on the committee
  - What needs to be discussed
  - The regulations of the EE Act
• Disclosure of information
• The analysis process
  - Qualitative
  - Statistical
  - Workplace Practices
• The EE Plan
• Role of the EE Committee
• Assignment 5: Identifying the EE barriers presented in a case study
• The EE Report

 Unit 5: Discrimination Case Law