The Employment Equity Act was introduced in 1998 to promote equality in the workplace which ensures that all employees receive equal opportunities and that employees are treated fairly by their employers.
Despite the Employment Act being around for more than 20 years, It is estimated that 80% of pay discrimination cases fail in court.
Stellenbosch Business School Research Chair, Professor Anita Bosch explained that they wanted to determine whether legislation has evolved over the past 20 years to eliminate pay discrimination in South Africa.
The research indicated that between 1999 and 2020, only three of the 26 pay discrimination cases that made it to the labour courts were successful. This meant that 80% of the pay discrimination cases failed.
Bosch says that having legislation does not necessarily lead to equality in the workplace. However, there are measures that various stakeholders can put in place to ensure that equality in the workplace can be achieved.
They explain that many cases fail as employees do not understand that difference does not necessarily mean discrimination. Employees will need a comparator or person to compare their remuneration with when determining whether they are not being discriminated against.
Bosch acknowledges that this is a grey area as many human resources departments may not want to disclose how much different employees earn. Employees should try and request rough estimates of how much their colleagues earn.
“In terms of relativity to other individuals, you can also ask for explanations as to why you are in a particular spot relative to other people in that [pay group] band and what reasons are used for that,” said Bosch.
Trade unions can also engage with employers and demand pay audits. This will help employers identify income disparities and ensure that there is parity as the Employment Equity Act compels.
They add that pay is an emotive issue as workers exchange their time, labour and skills for money. While various grounds could result in some pay differentiation like skill level and qualifications, human dignity must not be impaired.
Employees must first run through these grounds of difference to determine whether they are being paid differently or are being discriminated against.
