The Department of Labour has visited more than 250 business sites in Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State, Northern Cape and Western Cape as part of the nationwide blitz inspections to check on employers’ adherence to the Employment Equity Act.
According to preliminary inspections, 178 contravention orders and 60 compliance notices were issued in the five provinces.
Mpumalanga tops the list for non-compliance with the Act with 59 notices, followed by the Northern Cape with 44 and the Free State with 39.
The department said while the inspections were checking compliance to all aspects of the Act, attention was also paid to whether companies with 150 employees or more met the October 1 reporting deadline.
At this stage the department added that it has captured a total of 2Â 710 reports from the 4Â 500 submitted by employers for the 2003 reporting period.
According to the department companies had until October 1 to submit the employment equity reports and those that did not conply could now face fines of up R3-million.
Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana reiterated that the Employment Equity Act seeks to achieve equity in the workplace by promoting equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through the elimination of unfair discrimination, and to implement affirmative action measures to redress disadvantages in employment experienced by designated groups.
For the 2002 reporting period, where employers of 50 or more also had to report, 7Â 125 reports were processed.
Out of this number 2Â 761 were employers with 150 employees, and 4Â 364 represented those with less than 150 employees. — I-Net Bridge