Section 6(1) of the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 states that an employer may not unfairly discriminate against any employee on grounds including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, HIV status, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth, and others.
Employers are by law obliged to eliminate and prevent any unfair discrimination. Employers must adopt measures to eradicate differences in terms and conditions of employment, including inter alia remuneration of employees who perform work of equal value if those differences are directly or indirectly based on a listed ground or any arbitrary ground. In the process of the employer ensuring that employees are not paid differently, the employer is to ensure that any pay differentials are not due to any of the factors in section 6(1) listed above.
Employers must examine all aspects of their remuneration policies and practices to ensure compliance with the principle of equal pay for work of equal value. Section 27 of the Employment Equity Act requires designated employers to report on the pay and benefits received by employees in each occupational level of their workforce and where there are disproportionate income differentials or unfair discrimination by virtue of a difference in terms and conditions of employment, employers must take steps to progressively reduce these differentials. Guidance in this regard is provided for in the Code of Good Practice on the Integration of Employment Equity into Human Resources Policies, Practices and Procedures (HR Code).
When examining whether the obligation to apply remuneration equity in the workplace is being complied with, 3 key issues require scrutiny –
- Are the jobs that are being compared the same, substantially the same or of equal value in terms of an objective assessment?
- Is there a difference in the terms and conditions of employment, including remuneration of the employees in the jobs that are being compared?
- If there are differences in the terms and conditions of employment, can these be justified on fair and rational grounds?
The basic criteria commonly used to evaluate the value of jobs by an employer are –
- The responsibility demanded of the work including responsibility for people, finances and material.
- The skills, qualifications including prior learning and experience required to perform the work, whether formal or informal.
- Physical, mental and emotional effort required to perform the work.
- The assessment of working conditions may include assessment of the physical environment, psychological conditions, time when and geographic location where the work is performed.
It is important to be vigilant when selecting the method of job evaluation and to ensure that its content is equally tailored to both female dominated and male dominated jobs.
It is advisable to consult a reputable labour law advisor to ensure that your remuneration policies and practices is up to date with the latest developments.