The opening of the 2025 Employment Equity (EE) Reports starts soon, with the Department of Labour warning employers to have their documentation ready.
The submission of EE Reports for the 2025 EE reporting period begins on Monday, 1 September 2025.
The Employment Equity Amendment Act of 2022 became operational from 1 January 2025.
The new law primarily applies to businesses that employ 50 or more people and requires that their workforces show the country’s demographics at all levels.
To achieve this, the department has set out specific numerical targets across 18 industries in South Africa that businesses must fill with ‘designated employees’.
These employees include black (African, Coloured and Indian), female and disabled workers.
Failure to do so could see employers face fines of up to R1.5 million or 2% of turnover, and have their Employment Equity Compliance Certificates, which are necessary for state contracts, withdrawn.
Since the start of the year, two sets of EE Regulations on EE reporting forms and other EE templates, as well as the five-year sector EE targets for the 18 economic sectors, have been published.
These are designed to give guidelines to employers and employees on how to interpret and implement the recent EE amendments and sector EE targets.
What employers need to do
As per the EE Act, designated employers are required to prepare and implement an EE plan from 1 September 2025 until 31 August 2030.
Designated employers, who hire 50 more employees, have been reminded to submit their EE reports from 1 September 2025 to 1 October 2025 for manual submission.
They can also submit their reports online from 1 September 2025 to 15 January 2026
Designated employers’ compliance will be assessed against the annual EE targets to meet the relevant five-year sectoral numerical EE targets.
Employers looking to complete the 2025 EE report online or declare their current status as a non-designated employer must click an activation link sent to all employers via email from 1 September 2025.
Non-designated employers, those that employ fewer than 50 employees, must confirm or update their statuses to get their EE Compliance Certificate.
Employers who previously deregistered their EE account must notify the Director-General of the Department of Employment and Labour to reactivate their EE account.
Employers who do not have an EE account must register their profile online and access the EE online portal to request the EE Compliance Certificate.
Mixed reactions
Various business groups have seen mixed reactions to the new legislation and regulations in South Africa.
The Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) Chamber said that the new regulations and sector-specific numerical targets will accelerate South Africa’s workforce transformation.
Frik Boonzaaier from the BEE Chamber said the flexibility offered to employers will help businesses find the space to adapt to the regulations over the coming years.
However, the GNU member, the DA, launched a constitutional challenge against the new laws, specifically against Section 15a of the Employment Equity Amendment Act.
The party said the recent amendments are constitutionally invalid and abuse state power.
“Section 15a violates Section 9 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law and prohibits unfair discrimination,” said the DA.
“A law that forces employers to fire or refuse to hire people based on race, whether they are black, coloured, Indian, or white, is not redress. It is unconstitutional discrimination.”