SEIFSA members’ need to focus on their businesses
SEIFSA members’ business owners and management teams need to be able to focus on ensuring the success of their businesses, without being distracted by their obligation to comply with Government legislation.

Members’ increasing Employment Equity (‘EE’) obligations distracts from their focus on the business
The government has created a myriad of legislation around EE, non-compliance with which can result in hefty fines and members being held vicariously liable for acts of harassment perpetrated by their employees, which distracts SEIFSA members’ business owners and management teams’ focus from their business.

The EE Act imposes numerous onerous obligations on members, such as the development and implementation of a compliant EE Plan, which, for instance, requires that employee appointment, promotion and development decisions be made in accordance with their EE Plans’ numerical goals. In addition, there should be effective monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of such plans .

Failure to so comply can result in members being imposed fines of up to 2% of turnover for first offenders.

The Department of Employment and Labour (‘the DEL’) is, in addition, introducing extremely challenging Sector Targets. These will either have to be achieved, or their non-achievement justified, in order for Management Control points to be included members’ B-BBEE Scorecards, or for them to do business with Government.

The DEL stepping up Director-General (D-G) Reviews and prosecutions
Since January 2021, the DEL has included the assessment of the implementation of EE Plans by Designated Employers (including SEIFSA members) i.e., progress in achieving their EE Goals and targets, in its D-G Reviews.

According to the South African News Agency (‘SA News’), the DEL has, furthermore, seriously stepped-up D-G Reviews and prosecution of non-compliant Designated Employers in their financial year ending 31 March 2022.

A total of 860 employers were subjected to D-G Reviews nationally during this period, of which 94% were found to be non-compliant with the EE Act, and 60% were referred to prosecution for failure to comply with EE legislation. This included failure by some of them to implement EE Plans that reflected reasonable progress towards transformation in line with the numerical goals and annual targets set by them in their EE Plans.