Tag: Department of Employment and Labour

Companies that are concerned they won’t be able to comply with the new Employment Equity Act needn’t be. There is a legal way around the Act’s new requirements. The Employment Equity Amendment Act (EEA) 4 of 2022 was recently signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The employment of foreign nationals must not adversely impact the rights of unskilled South Africans and excluding South Africans from employment opportunities may constitute unfair discrimination. The recent High Court ruling confirmed that businesses who seek to employ foreign nationals must show that they have tried to train South African citizens to meet their needs when applying for corporate visas for foreign nationals.

The Minister of Employment and Labour has issued a revised COVID-19 Direction on Health & Safety in the Workplace. The Direction applies to all workplaces except mines, ships, boats​ or cranes and any other workplace which is regulated by a different direction on health and safety.

As South Africa prepares to move from level 4 lockdown so more and more companies will be allowed to re-open. As part of this, there are a broad range of legal requirements that organisations now need to comply with. As of the 29th April 2020, government published a set of regulations specifically related to how companies should be managing COVID-19.

The next few weeks (and beyond) will be a testing time particularly for smaller businesses. Best to see it as a stress test, a way to make your business stronger.

The Department of Employment and Labour has recently provided much needed guidance in respect of questions which employers have been grappling with since President Ramaphosa's declaration of a National State of Disaster on Sunday 15 March 2020.