In the six years since the Employment Equity Act was passed the representation of black people and women in the workplace has grown considerably, but people with disabilities are still being left behind.
People working in the disability sector complain that despite progressive legislation, progress is slow because the Department of Labour is failing to enforce the Act.
The Commission for Employment Equity’s 2002/03 annual report found that in terms of submitted equity reports, black people made up 77% of the workforce, women 37%, but people with disabilities accounted for only 1%.
The report described the statistics relating to employment of people with disabilities as “unsatisfactory” and stressed the need to “bring defaulters to the Labour Court and make enforcement more visible”.
In South Africa 2,2-million people receive disability grants (4,7% of the population). There are no accurate figures of the total number of people with disabilities.
“Nobody has ever put an urgency stamp on anything to do with disability,” says Clint Colby, skills development officer for the Talisman Foundation, a psychosocial rehabilitation centre. “Legislation was passed in 1998, but six years later companies are still not complying. How long does it take?
“This is a long haul and from my understanding they have left this until last. Nobody is going to do anything until they have to. Only when the department gets sorted out and people properly trained, can they put their foot down. Until that day comes, nobody has to do anything,” says Colby.
Louis Nzimande, chairperson of Disabled People South Africa, says he is frustrated by the status quo: “It’s pathetic, being here in the disability sector. I am 100% satisfied with the legislation. We are satisfied with the measures and regulations that have been put in place. It is on the enforcement side we need to get the Department of Labour to pull its weight.”
But department spokesperson Page Boikanyo says it is up to companies to set their own numerical goals in relation to their local and regional demographics. “Our enforcement approach is premised on the basis that we rather prevent non-compliance through legislation than resorting to punitive measures.”
The department says it will not force quotas on companies, but will leave it up to employers to determine their own numerical goals and equity representation.
“Employers, in accordance with their business circumstances, determine the extent to which they will be in a position to ensure equitable representation in their workplaces,” says Boikanyo.
The Act requires employers to submit reports to the labour department every year to track the progress of their equity plans.
“What happens to those reports? They put them into statistical form and then the minister will come out and make a statement saying he is dissatisfied with the employment rate of people with disabilities,” says Nzimande.
The Employment Equity Act makes provision for fines ranging from R500 000 to R900 000 for organisations that fail to comply with the Act. To date, the labour department has not fined a single employer.
Garth Gibson, employment officer of the South African National Council for the Blind, says that until major South African companies receive substantial fines, employers will have no incentive to comply with the legislation.
The Act requires that “preferential treatment and numerical goals” be used to ensure equitable representation, but “this excludes quotas”. Critics argue that the lack of quotas has contributed to the low rates of employment.
“I don’t think there is a legislated quota anywhere; maybe this needs to be put in legislation,” says Gibson.
People in the disability sector complain that the Act cannot be enforced because the labour department’s inspectors are not properly trained to assess compliance with regard to people with disabilities.
“They have 158 inspectors in the Gauteng region, none of whom are educated in disability — so how do they know what they are looking for?” asks Colby.
The labour department recently launched its technical assistance guidelines on the employment of people with disabilities, which is designed to assist companies to comply with the Act. Colby describes the guideline as “brilliant”, but says they will be ineffective if the inspectors are not familiar with the Act’s requirements.
The department disputes suggestions that its inspectors are not adequately trained, and says they are conversant with all requirements of the Act.
“Pertaining to inspections on disability, inspectors are able to check whether the employment environment accommodates employees with disabilities, and if they find that it does not, they will ensure that it does,” says Boikanyo.
What’s the score?
A random survey by the Mail & Guardian revealed that while most organisations try to comply with employment equity in relation to disability, some are not setting realistic targets. We looked at the employment equity plans of three government departments, three sector education and training authorities (Setas) and eight companies.
All departments had met the target, in terms of which 2% of their workforce should be people with disabilities. Private sector and state-owned companies fared worst, with the best performer at 1,1%.
Even companies whose employment equity plans have been approved by the department often fall short. South African Breweries (SAB) says it updates its employment equity plan on a monthly basis and has been “granted a clean audit on all occasions”. Despite this, it could not provide disability figures from this year’s equity report.
Department of Labour spokesperson Page Boikanyo says employers who supply incomplete information “would be given a query status on the system” and a deadline to respond.
Departments
Labour: The department scored highest, with 2,8% of its staff being people with disabilities. This exceeds the 2% target for 2005 set by the department for the public sector. The department’s internal employment equity team monitors the department’s implementation of employment equity and makes assessments on a quarterly basis. Buildings occupied by the department are assessed to see if they comply with the concept of “reasonable accommodation”.
Social Development: Employees with disabilities account for 2,3% of the workforce of the department. It has a directorate with its own budget, which provides for training, specialised equipment and access to the building and lifts.
Transport: The department exceeded the 2% target, coming in at 2,1%. Its equity plan is reviewed monthly, and almost three-quarters of its staff with disabilities occupy management positions.
Setas
The Setas and the Department of Labour have agreed that 4% of all learnerships should go to people with disabilities.
SSETA: The Services Seta is one of the best performing Setas, with 18% of all learnership positions going to people with disabilities. But marketing manager for the SSETA, Nteseng Lekubu, says the labour department is not doing enough to enforce the 4% target.
Theta: The Tourism and Hospitality Seta learnership manager, Thabo Matjabe, said the Seta was not complying with the 4% target at present. He said Theta agreed with the need for the target and that a special project for disabled learners would be run during the first quarter of 2005.
ISETT: The Information Systems, Electronics and Telecommunications Technologies Seta has exceeded the target, having reached 6%. Learnership manager Lihle Dlamini said the Seta was running a technical support learnership in Pretoria where all 100 learners were people with disabilities. “We have exceeded our intake as far as learnerships for people with disabilities are concerned for 2005,” said Dlamini.
Companies
Cell C: The cellular network company employs about 1 800 people, with 0,2% being people with disabilities. The company has not set any targets for the employment of people with disabilities, says Cell C spokesperson Happy Zondi.
Vodacom: About 0,8% of Vodacom staff are people with disabilities. An employment equity team is responsible for instituting the company’s equity plan and aims to increase the number to 2,5% in the next five years. Work stations have been modified and bigger computer screens have been provided for visually impaired individuals. All Vodacom offices provide parking and easy access for people.
Absa: The company tops the list of private sector companies, with 1,1% of its workforce being people with disabilities. It provides specialised typing and recording equipment for visually impaired staff, and teller and enquiry counters have been lowered for employees who use wheelchairs.
FirstRand Banking Group: Staff with disabilities make up 0,4%. Initiatives such as sign language training to allow staff to communicate with clients and colleagues are under way. One staff member has been equipped with a motorised scooter.
Woolworths: About 0,6% of the total staff employed have disabilities and the company aims to increase this by 0,5% each year. The majority are people with hearing impairments. Director of people Zyda Rylands says the company “provides sign language interpreters whenever needed, and [has] embarked on a programme of appropriate skilling of colleagues in the workplace to enable them to communicate with their deaf counterparts”. The majority work as cashiers or “replenishment staff”. At time of going to press Woolworths had not replied to our query as to whether these were permanent or casual staff.
South African Airways: SAA employs about 11 000 people. In 2001 an audit reported 90 employees with disabilities, but executive manager for corporate communications Rich Mkhondo says he does not have updated figures for 2004. A survey that will determine the current status will be conducted by the end of the year.
Eskom: Eskom has 1,6% of staff with disabilities. Its target for this year is 1,9%, with a 0,2% increase annually. Managers and employees of Eskom receive sensitisation training and automated voice mechanisms have been installed in lifts at all Eskom buildings to assist visually impaired people.
Telkom: The report submitted in September indicates that 0,95% of Telkom employees are people with disabilities. The company’s target is 1% by March 31 2006.
Pick ‘n Pay: Declined to comment. Organisational development director Isaac Motaung said the company prefers to have company information published in “an internal magazine targeting the Pick ‘n Pay community” and does not “want to appear in each and every little newspaper”.
MTN: The cellular network promised to respond to our questions but failed to do so. Numerous phone calls to the company over a two-week period failed to elicit this information.
All the companies and government departments that responded have stated that inspections by the Department of Labour have been conducted and that no fines have been issued for non-compliance.
What the law says
The Employment Equity Act, No 55 of 1998, aims to redress discrimination against previously disadvantaged people in the workplace. The designated groups include black people, women and people with disabilities.
The Act defines people with disabilities as “people who have a long-term or recurring physical or mental impairment which substantially limits their prospects of entry into, or advancement in, employment”.
The Act applies to all employers with more than 50 employees or with an annual turnover threshold determined by schedule 4 of the Act.
The Act does not apply to the National Defence Force, National Intelligence Agency and the South African Secret Service.
The Act requires a designated employer to draw up an employment equity plan to allow it to achieve reasonable progress towards employment equity in the workforce.
It requires employers to:
Appoint an equity manager who has some knowledge of disability management;
Set time frames, milestones and targets for achievement of employment equity;
Draw up job profiles that identify the inherent requirements, required skills and essential functions;
Ensure that candidates with disabilities are not discriminated against in the recruitment phase (for example, by ensuring a sign language interpreter is available if the candidate is hearing impaired);
Systems and practices to evaluate work performance should clearly identify, fairly measure and reward performance on the essential job functions. Key performance indicators must be identified by the employer and employee prior to employment;
Provide induction training for all stakeholders to gain the skills necessary to make the new relationships work;
Implement disability sensitisation programmes for other employees, to heighten their awareness and help them to overcome prejudices and stereotypes;
In addition to reporting to the Department of Labour, employers must report back to other employees as well;
The employer need not accommodate an employee with a disability if this would impose an unjustifiable hardship on the business of the employer. Unjustifiable hardship is defined by the technical assistance guide as an “action that requires significant or considerable difficulty or expense”; and
The cornerstone of implementation is “reasonable accommodation”, which aims to remove all barriers that prevent an employee with a disability from performing their job, and allows the person access to equal benefits and opportunities of employment.
Reasonable accommodation includes:
The removal of all physical barriers (for example, installing wheelchair ramps);
Ensuring people with disabilities have equal access to information and technology, such as voice input/output software;
Modification of workstations;
Adjustment of work schedules; (for example, allowing time off to collect medication);
Adjustment of the nature and duration of duties; and
Reallocation of non-essential job tasks.