Are temporary staff and contractors included in an EE plan?

Employees on fixed-term contracts and temporary staff who meet the definition of an employee are generally included in your workforce analysis. Independent contractors who are genuinely self-employed are not, but labour-broker placements often count toward the client's headcount — assess each arrangement on its substance.

When must an employer prepare or redo an EE plan?

A designated employer must always have a current EE plan aligned to the national five-year cycle, which currently runs from 2025 to 2030. If you only become a designated employer partway through the cycle — say in 2026 — your plan runs from that date until the end of the current cycle (2030), rather than for a separate full five-year term. You then prepare a new plan for the next cycle before this one expires, and review the plan whenever your workforce, structure or targets change materially.

Who is allowed a copy of the EE plan?

Your EE committee and recognised trade unions are entitled to a copy, and a summary must be made accessible to all employees. The Department of Employment & Labour may also request it during an inspection.

How does the WSP link to the Employment Equity plan?

Your Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) should support the training and development objectives in your EE plan — using skills development to build a pipeline of designated-group candidates for higher occupational levels.

What must be reflected in an Employment Equity plan?

At minimum: the objectives for each year, the affirmative-action measures to remove barriers, numerical goals and targets, timeframes, the duration of the plan, internal procedures to resolve disputes, and the persons responsible for monitoring and implementation.

EE Plan Guide

How to create an
Employment Equity plan

A practical, step-by-step guide for South African employers with 50 or more staff — HR managers, EE managers and labour consultants preparing for the 2025 reporting cycle. Follow these eight steps to build a compliant, audit-ready plan.

BUILD MY EE PLAN

The 8 steps to a compliant EE plan

01

Confirm you're a designated employer

You must prepare an EE plan if you employ 50 or more workers, regardless of turnover. Smaller employers can opt in voluntarily. This determines which reports (EEA12, EEA13, EEA2, EEA4) apply to you.

02

Consult your workforce & elect an EE committee

Genuine consultation is a legal requirement. Establish an Employment Equity committee with representatives across occupational levels and designated groups, plus any recognised trade unions, and meet regularly.

03

Analyse your workforce profile (EEA12)

Capture every employee by occupational level, race, gender and disability status. Compare your profile against the economically active population to expose under-representation at each level.

04

Identify barriers in policies & practices

Review recruitment, promotion, remuneration, training and retention for policies or practices that disadvantage designated groups. Each barrier you find becomes an affirmative-action measure in the plan.

05

Set numerical targets per occupational level

Set realistic 5-year and annual numerical goals for each occupational level by race and gender, aligned to the 2025 sector regulations and the Constitutional Court / SCA guidance on EE targets.

06

Draft objectives, timeframes & responsible persons

Translate targets into concrete objectives, each with a timeframe, the resources needed and a named person accountable for delivery. This is the core of a defensible EE plan.

07

Get CEO sign-off and communicate the plan

The plan must be approved at the highest level and made available to all employees. Display a summary, brief managers, and give the EE committee a copy.

08

Monitor, review and report (EEA13/EEA2/EEA4)

Track progress at quarterly meetings, review the plan annually, and submit your EEA2 and EEA4 reports to the Department of Employment & Labour each reporting cycle.

Frequently asked questions

AutoEqui builds your EE plan automatically.

Skip the spreadsheets. AutoEqui analyses your workforce, calculates numerical targets per occupational level, drafts objectives and produces structured working exports of the prescribed EEA forms. For a plain-language guide to the annual submission process, see our Employment Equity reporting guide.

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How to create anEmployment Equity plan