Employment Equity and Affirmative Action: An International Comparison

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harish C. Jain ◽  
Peter Sloane ◽  
Frank Horwitz
Keyword(s):  
Affirmative Action ◽  
International Comparison ◽  
Employment Equity

Equal Opportunity and Gender Disadvantage

1994 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley A. Jacobs
Keyword(s):  
Affirmative Action ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Wage Gap ◽  
Equality Of Opportunity ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Pay Equity ◽  
Employment Equity ◽  
Equal Pay ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Ideal

Recently, in Canada both the Federal Government and various provincial governments have introduced a series of measures intended to address gender inequalities in the workplace. These measures are of two basic types. Employment equity policies involve the implementation of affirmative action programmes designed to encourage the hiring and promotion of more women in, for example, the civil service. Pay equity policies have sought to institutionalize the principle of equal pay for work of equal value or, to use the American terminology, comparable worth. The aim of this paper is to resurrect the presently out of fashion view that the principles of affirmative action and comparative worth that underlie employment equity and pay equity can be defended on the grounds that they contribute to the realization of an ideal of equality of opportunity between men and women in Canadian society. This view, although once prevalent among those concerned with gender issues, has been pushed aside, largely because of doubts about the visionary depth of the ideal of equality of opportunity. It has been replaced instead by an ideal of equality of results which emphasizes the goal of reducing the gender wage gap. It is my intention here to formulate a principle of equality of opportunity that can incorporate recent feminist legal and political philosophy in a way that offers a promising way to analyze issues posed by gender inequalities in the workplace and, as a result, provide a clear rationale for the recent employment equity and pay equity initiatives in Canada.

Public Service Transformation and Affirmative Action Perspectives in South Africa

1996 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.S. Reddy ◽  
R.B.G. Choudree
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Affirmative Action ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
Employment Equity ◽  
Effective Mechanism ◽  
The Public ◽  
General Acceptance

Affirmative action is on the agenda in South Africa. It is generally accepted that the new constitution will include a bill of rights which will contain a clause ensuring equality of all persons. It is this clause which will outlaw discrimination and which will sanction affirmative action. However, it is probably that the bill of rights will have to be supplemented by legislation on discrimination, affirmative action and employment equity, which will determine, for example whether and how the Public Service (and the private sector) are compelled or permitted to implement affirmative action. While approaches and strategies to affirmative action vary considerably, there is general acceptance that it may be an effective mechanism of ensuring social justice in the public service. It can play a pivotal role in equalizing and democratizing public instirutions in South Africa.

scholarly journals Reviewing the suitability of affirmative action and the inherent requirements of the job as grounds of justification to equal pay claims in terms of the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 1-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shamier Ebrahim
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Affirmative Action ◽  
South African ◽  
International Labour Organisation ◽  
Employment Equity ◽  
Equal Pay ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Labour Organisation

The purpose of this article is to analyse the grounds of justification to pay discrimination as contained in South African law, the Conventions and Materials of the International Labour Organisation and the equal pay laws of the United Kingdom. Lastly, an analysis will be undertaken to determine whether affirmative action and the inherent requirements of the job provide justifications proper to equal pay claims. 

scholarly journals Racial Minorities and Affirmative Action/Employment Equity Législation in Canada

2005 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 593-614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harish C. Jain
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Affirmative Action ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Employment Equity ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Policy Initiatives ◽  
Visible Minorities ◽  
Private Sector Organizations ◽  
Public And Private Sector

The purpose of this article is to highlight the disadvantaged status of visible minorities in public and private sector organizations and the need for affirmative action/employment equity programs to ameliorate their disadvantaged statut, to describe and analyze public policy on employment equity at the federal and provincial levels, to evaluate the effectiveness of the federal EE initiatives; and to provide policy implications and recommendations for strengthening public policy initiatives.

scholarly journals Unisa v Reynhardt [2010] 12 BLLR 1272 (LAC): Does Affirmative Action have a Lifecycle?

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 411
Author(s):  
Muriel Mushariwa
Keyword(s):  
Affirmative Action ◽  
Life Span ◽  
The Other ◽  
Reverse Discrimination ◽  
Employment Equity ◽  
Affirmative Action Policy ◽  
Qualified Candidate ◽  
Adequate Representation ◽  
Action Policy ◽  
Action Measures

The Employment Equity Act (EEA) was enacted to achieve equity in the workplace by prohibiting unfair discrimination and by requiring the implementation of affirmative action measures to ensure the adequate representation of designated groups. To ensure compliance with the EEA a designated employer must ensure that it formulates an affirmative action policy within which employment equity targets are stipulated and met. One of the on-going debates around affirmative action is whether it has a life-span. One school of thought argues that affirmative action requires a legislated sunset clause, in which considerations of race, gender and disability will no longer be implemented by employers, instead of which each employer will look to employ a candidate who is suitably qualified for the vacant post. The other school of thought argues that the need for affirmative action is two-fold: to redress past inequalities, but also to deal with existing inequalities within society. Having a sunset clause this would negate the aim of affirmative action to deal effectively with both kinds of inequalities and also the creation of a representative workforce. In the case of UNISA v Reynhardt it was held that once an employer has reached his employment equity targets it is no longer justifiable for it to apply affirmative action, but that the principle to be applied is that the most suitably qualified candidate is to be appointed. The non-application of affirmative action is subject to an employer’s commitment to meeting employment equity targets and a recognition by the employer that once these targets are reached they must be maintained within the organisation. Consequently, once a disparity exists, affirmative action must again be applied, resulting in the imputation of a distinct lifecycle to affirmative action. Failure on the part of the employer to do this would have the potential of creating reverse discrimination against employees who are not the beneficiaries of affirmative action.

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