Now labour dept questions employment equity at Truworths, TFG and Barloworld

Leading retailers TFG and Truworths and industrial firm Barloworld are among the companies under the Department of Labour and Employment’s scrutiny for allegedly failing to comply with employment equity laws.

Labour department chief director of statutory and advocacy services Fikiswa Mncanca-Bede alleged that the areas of non-compliance in the cases of TFG and Barloworld are the overrepresentation of white males and females at senior and professionally qualified levels.

She said TFG had allegedly projected to increase the numbers of already overrepresented Indian males and females, despite being cautioned during the labour department’s review.

ALSO READ: PIC takes around R40m for half its Steinhoff stake and runs

At Truworths, she said white males were allegedly overrepresented at top management level, adding that there was a general lack of implementation of affirmative action measures as required by Section 20 of the Employment Equity Act (EEA).

Legal action 

“The Department intends to take legal action against these companies,” she said.

The legal application would ask the courts to impose a fine of R1.5 million or 2% of turnover.

“We want to warn employers to take matters of employment equity [seriously].

“If they think compliance is expensive let them try non-compliance,” she added.

In a response to a Moneyweb query, Truworths asserted that it is fully compliant with the EEA and is engaging with the labour department in a director-general review process.

“We have complied with all the requirements of the process and implemented the recommendations made by the department,” Truworths said.

It said the process is ongoing and the company is awaiting a response to a comprehensive submission it made to the department earlier this year.

“There has been no verdict, court order, application or other proceedings instituted against Truworths in this regard. We remain open to engage constructively with the Department,” it said.

The retailer said African, Coloured and Indian employees comprise 93.9% of its workforce in South Africa, while 74.2% of its employees are females.

Revision of targets

Fellow Cape Town-headquartered retailer TFG said it had not received a verdict of non-compliance, but a confirmatory notice instead, which reflected that the company’s planned employment equity numerical targets for the years need to be revised.

“TFG has received a confirmatory notice in relation to the employment equity numerical targets that were proposed by the company. This is not related to the company’s performance to date. The company has engaged the Department and, on their advice, has resubmitted our plan and are awaiting feedback,” the company said.

It said while there has been progress, it recognises that more work needs to be done.

The company said that as it bolstered its manufacturing capacity and store network, it added 6 200 more jobs over the past year, mostly created for black South Africans.

READ: SA SMEs optimistic about survival – report

The company’s workforce is 65% female and they occupy 43% of senior leadership roles, while males hold 35% of senior jobs.

TFG said it has 97% employment equity representation – 74% African and approximately 3% people with disabilities.

Barloworld, who also said it’s equipment business in the country had not received a verdict of noncompliance from the department, said it’s making strides in achieving its long-term plan to have its workforce reflect the same level of diversification of South Africa’s economically active population. 

“At present 82% of Barloworld’s employees in South Africa are black, with an increasing number having progressed through the management ranks. From a gender perspective, Barloworld has demonstrated this focus through its leadership across various metrics, recognition in the gender mainstreaming awards and by driving our gender accountability externally through issuing Africa’s first gender linked bond,” it said.

Barloworld said it continues to engage with the department to ensure the delivery of its employment equity plan.

“The plan that is currently with the Department of Labour aims to address any concerns that have been raised and, supportive of this, the business has in place a talent program which is aimed at ensuring that we have a pipeline of employees with the requisite skills across demographic groupings,” the company said. 

This article originally appeared on Moneyweb and was republished with permission. Read the original article here.

NOW READ: Sipho Pityana clears hurdle in Absa case after removal as director