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

Chapter III : Affirmative Action

15. Affirmative action measures

 

(1) Affirmative action measures are measures designed to ensure that suitably qualified people from designated groups have equal employment opportunities and are equitably represented in all occupational levels in the workforce of a designated employer.

[Subsection (1) amended by section 7(a) of Act No. 47 of 2013]

 

(2) Affirmative action measures implemented by a designated employer must include—
(a) measures to identify and eliminate employment barriers, including unfair discrimination, which adversely affect people from designated groups;
(b) measures designed to further diversity in the workplace based on equal dignity and respect of all people;
(c) making reasonable accommodation for people from designated groups in order to ensure that they enjoy equal opportunities and are equitably represented in the workforce of a designated employer;
(d) subject to subsection (3), measures to—
(i) ensure the equitable representation of suitably qualified people from designated groups in all occupational levels in the workforce; and

[Subparagraph (i) amended by section 7(b) of Act No. 47 of 2013]

(ii) retain and develop people from designated groups and to implement appropriate training measures, including measures in terms of an Act of Parliament providing for skills development.

 

(3) The measures referred to in subsection (2)(d) include preferential treatment and numerical goals, but exclude quotas.

 

(4) Subject to section 42, nothing in this section requires a designated employer to take any decision concerning an employment policy or practice that would establish an absolute barrier to the prospective or continued employment or advancement of people who are not from designated groups.