Employment Equity reporting is once again upon us, and this time with much more emphasis on transformation than ever before. There is much more awareness and consciousness of the lack of progress at top, senior and middle management positions. This comes at the back of the release the latest 17th CEE Annual Report that highlighted once again the inadequate progress being made.
What the JSE figures reveal
The JSE figures revealed that only 10% of the top 40 listed entities’ CEO’s are Black and only 22% of senior management is Black, compared to the 60% requirement of the B-BBEE generic scorecard. In recent months we have seen Black Executives staging a walkout at one of the largest banks due to dissatisfaction about the progress of transformation. The Commission for Black Economic Empowerment requires JSE listed or public entities to report on their transformation scorecard and status. Added to this is the gender diversity listing requirement of paragraph 3.84(k)
Extract
In addition to complying with paragraph 8.63(a), the issuers must comply with the following specific requirements concerning corporate governance and must disclose their compliance herewith in their annual report…
(k) the board of directors or nomination committee, as the case may be, must have a policy on the promotion of gender diversity at board level. The issuer must confirm this by reporting to the shareholders in its annual report on how the board of directors or the nomination committee, as the case may be, have considered and applied the policy of gender diversity in the nomination and the appointment of directors. If applicable, the board of directors or the nomination committee must further report in respect thereof on agreed voluntary targets.
Section 53
Another set of Employment Equity Act amendments are eminent to give effect to the implementation of Section 53, as advised by the minister at the 17th Annual CEE Report release.
Transformation in your organisation
- Is your EE Committee or Transformation Committee adequately trained to evaluate all of the matters that impact on the organisations transformation wellbeing?
- Does your line management understand the implications of not adhering to these transformation requirements?
Failure to address these matters may not only result in fines, but a much bigger concern is that employees are becoming more and more aware of their rights to equal opportunities. Perhaps, it is time to intensify the transformation process.
Let us help you devise a road map that would accelerate your transformation initiatives. For more information or to discuss your unique needs contact me at [email protected].
Kind regards
Thembi Chagonda