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Employment Equity Act, 1998 (Act No. 55 of 1998)

Regulations

Employment Equity Regulations, 2025

Duties of a Designated Employer

9. Duty to prepare and implement an Employment Equity Plan (EE Plan)

 

(1) Designated employers must prepare and implement an EE Plan for the period from 1 September 2025 until 31 August 2030.

 

(2) Employers who become designated employers, after 1 April 2025, must prepare an EE Plan for the remainder of the period until 31 August 2030.

 

(3) A designated employer must refer to the relevant Codes of Good Practice issued in terms of section 54 of the Act when preparing an EE Plan contemplated in section 20 of the Act.

 

(4) The EE Plan must contain, at a minimum, all the elements contained in the EEA13 template of these regulations.

 

(5) When developing EE Plans and setting annual numerical targets in their workplaces in terms of Section 20(2) of the EEA, designated employers must take into account—
(a) their workforce profile,
(b) the relevant 5-year sectoral numerical targets; and
(c) the applicable EAP.

 

(6) In addition to the factors listed in sub-regulation (5), a designated employer may take into account any of the following to the extent that they are consistent with the purpose of the Act—
(a) the inherent requirements of a particular job;
(b) the pool of suitably qualified persons;
(c) the formal qualifications, prior learning, relevant experience or capacity to acquire, within a reasonable time, the ability to do the job, as contemplated in sections 20(3) to (5) of the Act;
(d) the rate of turnover and natural attrition within the workplace; and
(e) recruitment and promotional trends within a workplace.

 

(7) A designated employer must—
(a) comply with the numerical targets set in terms of section 15A(3) for the economic sector in which they operate;
(b) refer to the Ministerial notice issued in terms of section 15A and EEA17 to the regulations to determine the sector they operate in; and
(c) if it operates in more than one sector, apply the numerical targets for the sector in which the majority of their employees are engaged.

 

(8) The 5-year sectoral numerical targets set in terms of section 15A(2) of the Act are key milestones towards achieving the equitable representation of the different designated groups within the four upper occupational levels in an employer’s workforce in relation to the demographics of the applicable EAP, and for persons with disabilities.

 

(9) When determining their Annual EE targets towards achieving the 5-year sectoral numerical targets, a designated employer must set numerical targets for all designated groups in each of the four upper occupational levels in relation to the applicable sector targets and EAP, and for persons with disabilities.

 

(10) A designated employer must avoid perpetuating the over-representation of any group if their representation exceeds the applicable EAP in a particular occupational level.

 

(11) A designated employer that has exceeded the numerical target set for a particular designated group at an occupational level should continue to set targets that maintain compliance with the EAP.

 

(12) Designated employers must set numerical goals and annual EE targets at the semi-skilled and unskilled occupational levels in their EE Plans in terms of Section 20(2) of the EEA, taking into account the applicable EAP.

 

(13) Designated employers’ compliance will be assessed against their annual targets set towards meeting the relevant 5-year sectoral numerical targets.

 

(14) A designated employer will incur no penalty or any form of disadvantage if there are reasonable grounds to justify its failure to comply with any target, as contemplated by section 53(6)(b), read with section 42(4), of the Act.

 

(15) A designated employer must retain their EE Plan for a period of five years after the expiry of the EE Plan.

 

(16) A designated employer must refer to the EEA9 in the regulations for guidance on how to differentiate between the various occupational levels.