The Employment Equity Commission (EEC) clarified that the present state of the law is that all employers, regardless of sector, and employing any number starting from 10 and above, are considered Relevant Employers.
Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation Acting Director, Otniel Podewiltz in a media release on Thursday said the provisions of the Affirmative Action (Employment) Act 29 of 1998 applies to all these employers, inclusive of the requirement to submit Annual Affirmative Action Reports to the EEC. The EEC further provided clarity on the newly identified Relevant Employers following the reduction of the threshold from 25 to 10 and above employees.
“The reduction notice was published in the Government Gazette on 15 September 2022. Prior to 15 September, affirmative action (Employment Act 29 of 1998) only applied to employers employing 25 and above employees, and only those employers were required to submit Affirmative Action Reports annually to the EEC,” Podewiltz said.
Effective 15 September 2022, the Act now applies to all employers employing between 10 and above employees. In accordance with Section 27 of the Act, the newly identified relevant employers have 18 months from the date of the notice before they must submit their first affirmative action reports. The date of this notice was 15 September 2022, hence submissions are expected on 15 March 2024.
The policy decision is that, until further notice, employers employing between 19 to 10 employees are not required to start the submission of Affirmative Action Reports on 15 March 2024. In respect of these employers, specific arrangements and dates for the submission of the first Affirmative Action Reports will be made. These dates can only be provided after the consultation process on the nature and the content of the reports they would be required to submit is completed.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency