Policing the Skills Development Act and the Employment Equity Act

Stephan du Toit

Legal Compliance Facilitator

It is a well known fact that the Skills Development and the Employment Equity Act were two non-policed Acts in the past. The Department of Labour lacked the resources to police the Employment Equity Act and although the Service SETA possessed the resources, no legal implications were in place for non-compliance. During September the Services SETA launched their 2008 - 2009 Star 1 Skills Audit of 2500 organisations. This Audit differs from the standard Service SETA audit in that it is backed by the Labour court Case No: J 1509/04, never before had the Service SETA such a strong hand in the compliance of organisations.

In terms of this ruling, the Service SETA has the authorisation to complete an Audit, and if organisations are found to be non-compliant and in contravention with the Act. The Service SETA is compelled to do the following;

As 1 of about 400 accredited and approved Star 1 Auditors, I'm tasked with the forensic Audit of 20 organisations from October to January.

Included in the Audit is compliance with the Skills Development Act and parts of the Employment Equity Act. A detailed Audit and evidence list has been placed on my website for reference. (www.stephandutoit.co.za) During the Audit the burden of proof rests with the organisation in particular the person that compiled, signed and submitted the WSP/ATR and the EEA2 and EEA4.

The Audit verifies statutory requirements, such as taxes paid, training committee meetings, training costs spent and accreditation of training courses, it also considers the quality of internal training and who received training. The audit refers all training and development back to the Employment Equity act with regards to the equity breakdown, compliance to the statutory requirements such as the workers forum of the organisation, equity and development plans for employees.

The Audit's premise is not a witch hunt but rather a compliancy gauge. It will allow the organisation to verify to what extent they comply with both Acts and what they need to do to improve. During the next 3 years the Services SETA has plans to extend to other Audit areas and to transfer its Audit experience to the other SETA's allowing for compliancy Audits to take place in every industry in the private sector.

In essence, there is no amnesty for fraudsters and they will have to face the consequences of their actions.

• For more information please contact Stephan on (012)547 6310; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit www.stephandutoit.co.za