Trade union Solidarity mentioned on Monday that it will proceed with its litigation against Dis-Chem over its coverage to not rent or promote any white South Africans.
THE LEGAL ACTION FOLLOWS DIS-CHEM’S CONTROVERSIAL MEMORANDUM
This comes after Dis-Chem withdrew its controversial memorandum that leaked. The doc said that white South Africans could be blocked from appointments or promotions within the firm.
Dis-Chem CEO Ivan Saltzman instructed the media that the coverage was to realize set employment fairness targets and could be integrated into administration’s bonus construction.
Solidarity demanded affirmation from the group that the coverage itself was additionally now not in impact.
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SOLIDARITY DEMANDED CONFIRMATION FROM DIS-CHEM THAT THE POLICY WAS NO LONGER IN EFFECT
The commerce union gave Dis-Chem till Friday, 21 October, to substantiate this or face authorized action.
According to Solidarity, Dis-Chem has ignored this deadline.
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“The entire South Africa wants to know whether Dis-Chem has only withdrawn the controversial memorandum or the policy as well. Instead of providing certainty, Dis-Chem refuses to disclose information.
“Dis-Chem’s statements are vague and do nothing to create certainty. The question is simply this: Is there a ban on employing and promoting white employees? The fact that Dis-Chem refuses to confirm the information, leaves us with no choice but to accept that the policy stands,”
Dr Dirk Hermann, Solidarity’s chief government, mentioned.
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According to Solidarity, Dis-Chem goes past what the Employment Equity Act permits.
‘DIS-CHEM GOES BEYOND WHAT THE EMPLOYMENT EQUITY ACT ALLOWS’
Solidarity’s litigation technique shall be a mixture of an software for the disclosure of data and an software to the Labour Court to declare Dis-Chem’s racial coverage illegal.
Solidarity moreover mentioned the Employment Equity Act prohibits absolute ceilings and quotas and requires flexibility. The Act itself and case legislation on this regard are clear about this.
“There are legal bounds to race legislation. Dis-Chem is now setting a new norm for the private sector. The law cannot be broken in an attempt to comply with an Act. Judicial decisions, too have clearly shown that there are rights of white employees that must also be protected. Racial legislation and policy must not be a punishment but must focus on redress. Dis-Chem wants to establish a hard-line racial policy. The goal is simply racial representivity and it has nothing to do with redress,” Hermann mentioned.
BUT WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY:
According to a report by BusinessTech the Department of Employment and Labour has expressed blended emotions on the matter.
The division mentioned that whereas the Dis-Chem CEO’s stance doesn’t look like against the letter of the legislation, his place is against the spirit of employment fairness and affirmative action and will quantity to ‘malicious compliance’ with the legal guidelines.
It mentioned that the Employment Equity Act (EEA) supplies that each employer should take steps to advertise equal alternative within the office by eliminating unfair discrimination in any employment coverage or observe – however preferential measures taken by a chosen employer ought to exclude quotas.
The report said that the division mentioned:
“According to Section 15(1) (of the EEA), designated employers must adopt affirmative action measures that are 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.
“To ensure that there is compliance with the spirit and ethos of employment equity, section 21 of the EEA places accountability and the responsibility to implement employment equity and transform the workplace in the hands of the chief executive officer and captains of industry. The CEO of Dis-Chem’s actions up to this point are compliant.”
However, the division mentioned that this kind of action could possibly be deemed unlawful or illegal sooner or later.
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