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Service 02 ยท Employment Equity
Your 2025 to 2030 EE plan, reported on time.
We check whether you are designated, analyse your workforce, build the EE plan against your sector's numerical targets, and prepare the EEA2 and EEA4 for the window that closes on 15 January. For state suppliers, we get you ready to request the section 53 compliance certificate.
Who it is for
Three kinds of employer, three different jobs
The amended Employment Equity Act has applied since 1 January 2025. What you owe depends on your headcount and on whether you sell to the state.
50 to about 150 employees
Newly or recently designated
Often the first full EE plan, a first EE committee and a first EEA2. You need a workforce analysis, a plan you can defend, and records of consultation from the start.
Forms EEA12, EEA13, EEA2, EEA4
Large and multi-site
Corporates and mines
Several sites, many occupational levels, an established committee. The work is aligning the plan to the sector targets and building the evidence for reasonable grounds where a target will be missed.
Forms EEA12, EEA13, EEA2, EEA4, EEA15
Fewer than 50 employees
State suppliers
Not designated, but contracting with the state. You still need a section 53 certificate, requested on the EEA15 by declaring compliance with Chapter II and the National Minimum Wage Act.
Form EEA15
What you get
From profile to plan to report
- Designation and sector. The headcount test applied on your records, and your economic sector chosen from the EEA17 list, with the reason written down.
- Workforce analysis (EEA12). Your profile by occupational level, race, gender and disability against the economically active population, plus the barriers behind any gaps.
- EE plan (EEA13). Numerical goals and annual targets measured against your sector's targets, the 3% disability goal, and the measures to reach them.
- Consultation records. Committee set-up, minutes and sign-off, kept as evidence from the first meeting.
- Annual reporting. The EEA2 report and the EEA4 income differential statement, prepared for online submission.
- Section 53 readiness. The EEA15 request and, where a target is missed, your reasonable grounds set out against the regulations.
What we need from you
Records you already keep
- Employee list with occupational level, race, gender, disability and nationality
- Payroll by occupational level for the income differential statement
- Appointments, promotions and terminations for the past 12 months
- Your current EE plan and last EEA2, if you have them
- EE committee members and meeting records
- Any CCMA awards or court findings in the past 12 months
Send documents through the engagement, not through this website. The site does not accept uploads.
Deadlines
The EE year
| When | What | Form |
|---|---|---|
| Last working day of August | Notice that you cannot report, if that applies | EEA14 |
| 1 September | Online reporting opens | EEA2, EEA4 |
| First working day of October | Manual (hand) submissions close | EEA2, EEA4 |
| 15 January | Online submissions close | EEA2, EEA4 |
| Rolling | Section 53 certificate, valid 12 months from issue | EEA15 |
The current window opened on 1 September 2026 and closes on 15 January 2027. Regulators set these dates and can move them; confirm on the Department of Employment and Labour's site.
The section 53 certificate
What the state will ask for
Since 1 January 2025 an employer contracting with the state needs an EE compliance certificate, requested online on the EEA15. A designated employer needs its latest EEA2 and EEA4 submitted first and states any reasonable grounds for missing targets. A non-designated employer (fewer than 50 employees) declares compliance with Chapter II of the Act and the National Minimum Wage Act. The certificate is valid for 12 months and can be withdrawn after 14 days' notice.
- Sector targets met, or reasonable grounds shown for missing them
- No CCMA or court finding of unfair discrimination in the past 12 months
- No CCMA award for non-payment of the national minimum wage in the past 12 months
Reasonable grounds recognised by the regulations include too few recruitment or promotion opportunities, too few suitably qualified people from designated groups, a CCMA award or court order, a transfer of business, a merger or acquisition, and economic conditions.
Linked platform
EE platform
One chain from workforce profile to EE plan to annual report: designation test, sector selection, EEA12 analysis, EEA13 plan with the section 20 checks, numerical targets against the economically active population including the 3% disability goal, consultation and sign-off steps, and the content for the EEA2 and EEA4. Document output is not built yet.
Available on request, with a demo, and used inside our EE engagements. It has no self-serve sign-in yet.
About the EE platformPenalties and the courts
Stated plainly
Fines are not automatic. A labour inspector first asks for a written undertaking, then issues a compliance order, then the Director-General reviews, and only then does a matter reach the Labour Court. The Act's maximum fines run from the greater of R1.5 million or 2% of turnover for a first contravention, up to R2.7 million or 10% for repeat contraventions.
As at November 2026 the sector targets are in force. The urgent application to suspend them was dismissed at every level, most recently by the Constitutional Court on 22 May 2026. Reviews brought by NEASA and Sakeliga, Solidarity, BUSA and the DA are still pending. We plan to the rules as they stand and update clients when a court rules.
Questions
What employers ask first
We have 52 employees. Are we designated?
Yes. Since 1 January 2025 an employer with 50 or more employees is designated, whatever its turnover. We check how your headcount is counted. If you became designated after 1 April 2025, your plan runs only to 31 August 2030.
What happens if we miss a sector target?
The regulations say an employer that shows reasonable grounds for not meeting a target incurs no penalty or disadvantage. Those grounds need evidence built during the year, which is why we keep recruitment and consultation records from the start.
Do we submit the EE plan to the Department?
No. The EE plan (EEA13) is a working document you keep and implement. Each year you submit the EEA2 report and the EEA4 income differential statement.
We are not designated but supply a municipality. What do we need?
A section 53 compliance certificate. You request it on the EEA15 by declaring compliance with Chapter II of the Act and the National Minimum Wage Act. It lasts 12 months.
Is this legal advice?
No. We consult on EE planning and reporting and prepare your documents. For a dispute or a court matter, speak to a labour lawyer.
What we do and don't do
We prepare. The Department decides.
The Department of Employment and Labour receives your EE reports and issues the section 53 certificate. We prepare the analysis, the plan and the reports with you, and keep the evidence behind them.
Talk to an EE consultant
Tell us your headcount, your sector and whether you contract with the state.